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A couple of years ago someone thought that our school was making a political statement because we had a rainbow Cross design prominently mounted on the outside of the addition to our school. It took me by surprise because I hadn't even considered such an interpretation.
I explained that for thousands of years the rainbow has been a sign of God's promise of mercy.
We all know the story of Noah's ark. The book of Genesis recounts the event.
"The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth... it grieved him to his heart. So the Lord said, 'I will blot out man whom I have created...'" (Genesis 6:5-8).
However, Noah found favor with God and so God instructed Noah to build the ark (Genesis 6:14).
Most of us have seen artistic renditions of how in response to God's command Noah gathered one pair of every animal into the ark. We vividly recall how 40 days and 40 nights of rain flooded the earth, and how as the flood waters receded, a dove returned to the ark with an olive branch (a symbol of peace).
Scripture tells us that following the flood God made a promise to all living things that he would never again destroy the earth with a flood and as a sign of this he said, "I will set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all generations..." (Genesis 9:8-17).
Each time we see a rainbow we should remember that it is God's sign that he will be faithful to his promise of mercy.
The Cross is also a sign of God's merciful love. As Jesus died on the Cross, he demonstrated how deeply sin grieves the heart of God, but rather than punishing us for our offenses God had sent his Son to expiate our sin so that we might be forgiven.
He declared to the world that God desires not the death of the sinner, but repentance. Like the wooden ark of centuries past, the wood of the Cross bore us past the waters of death to God's promise of life and remains for us a sign of God's faithful mercy.
The Cross and the rainbow, how well they go together.
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Finding Faith is written by area pastors. This week's column comes from Rev. Fr. Joseph Orr of Holy Spirit Catholic Parish, Lock Haven.