Prophecy of the Phoenix

Someone had a vision during the 'Jesus in the city' imaginative contemplation session at the Order of the Mustard Seed Retreat at Castlewellan Castle in Northern Ireland last weekend:

I was walking up Hightown Road arm in arm with Jesus. As we arrived at the weapons bin by St Matthews, I flipped the bin, and the weapons fell out and formed the Knife Phoenix (phoenix peace sculpture made from knives). It started to take off and I grabbed onto its tail and was lifted up into the air.

We landed on the roof of St Matthews church. As I was trying to figure out why I was there, a stone hit and smashed my glasses, and I became aware of a handful of people standing on the road between the school and the church and throwing rocks at the church. It wasn’t big rocks so it didn’t do much damage, but there was also a sense that they had been there for a while.

I then felt Jesus invite me to come down into the church, and so I slid through the roof and landed behind the piano by the altar. The phoenix remained on the roof, and grew until it was big enough to cover the roof. I then started to play the piano and worship, and as I was doing so, the phoenix flapped its wings, causing tremors to go out from it across Luton.

It felt as though:

• the phoenix was symbolic for St Matthews – rising from the ashes
• there was something about the anti-violence that the phoenix symbolises that was significant for St Matthews