“Come, I will send you”
(Exodus 3.10)

The Illawarra Flame Tree as a Symbol for the Cathedral Community and Precinct

The reason for choosing the Illawarra Flame tree as a symbol connected to our Cathedral in Wollongong is based upon the way created things help us approach the mystery of God. As St Paul teaches in Romans 1:20, God’s nature and power is perceived in realities that God has created.

In the Scriptures, as in the Sacraments of the Church, created realities, such as water (Baptism) and oil (Confirmation, Ordination, Anointing of the Sick), serve to help us approach the mystery of God and experience God’s grace. Among these natural elements, fire is a Scriptural symbol of God’s presence, revealing the transcendence of the Divine. An example, as I will explain below, is found in the Burning Bush of Exodus, Chapter 3.

How does the Illawarra Flame Tree help us in approaching God and why choose it as a symbol of our life of faith, worship and mission in the Cathedral?

For thousands of years in Australia, in late spring to early summer, the Illawarra Flame Tree has burst into vibrant fiery red flowers. It is vividly red in full bloom and its radiant colour evokes the burning bush from which God spoke thousands of years ago to Moses about leading the people of Israel from slavery into the freedom of the Promised Land.

The Burning Bush relates to the revelation of some fundamental truths of Divine Revelation. We read about it in the Book of Exodus. The word Exodus refers to a “going out” and the Book of Exodus is an account of the liberation of the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt. The slavery takes different forms, from excessive and inhuman conditions of work to the inability to have time for worship of the one true God. The call from God to Moses is to lead the people to rediscover their identity as a people chosen by God to worship and live according to God’s covenant, love and wisdom.

Chapter Three of Exodus tells us that when Moses notices the burning bush and approaches it to see more closely why it is not consumed, God commands Moses to remove his shoes as a sign of reverence before the Divine Mystery. This gets Moses ready to listen to the God who identifies as the God of Moses’ ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. At this saying, Moses hides his face in reverential fear before the Divine Presence.

Then God speaks of the suffering of the people of Israel and how God will set them free from this oppression. The liberation of the people is not only achieved by enabling the people to escape from the land of oppression but also to be led by Moses to the land of the promise. It is in this context, an act of salvation, that God gives the missionary command to Moses that we have quoted at the beginning of our explanation and chosen for our Cathedral Flag: “Come, and I will send you”. In response Moses asks God to give a name by which the Lord can be identified by the people of Israel. God refuses such a limited name, rather giving the mysterious name that both defies limited definition and points to the continual saving power of God: “I Am Who I Am.”

God commands Moses to be attentive to the call and presence of God and lead the people of Israel from the land of oppression. Moses’ mission is to be the minister of God’s saving wisdom and power to lead the people to the land of promise, “a land flowing with milk and honey”. Here they will be given a place to be a people and live according to God’s wisdom and love.

What does this mean for us here in the Cathedral Community of St Francis Xavier in Wollongong?

As a people who believe in the God who called Moses and as members of God’s people through the New Moses, Jesus, here in Wollongong, as a part of the Illawarra region, we too hear the word of God: “Come, I will send you.” God has called us to listen to the word of salvation, be set free from the oppression of evil, and fulfill our mission to walk with others into the freedom of God’s tender mercy.

The Illawarra Flame Tree is a beautiful gift of nature to us all in Wollongong and the Illawarra. May its vivid fiery colour in Spring and Summer remind us of the presence of the God who saves us and calls us to the freedom of God’s children, to believe, worship, serve and bear witness to God’s love and reveal the light of Christ’s promise of eternal life for all.