Sometimes in "Ithaca," however, the religious imagery is not simply flecked over the pages; instead, it is used to expand upon the larger issues of Ulysses. The ceremony, for example, with which Bloom leads Stephen into his home with a candle after taking off his hat, suggests both the beginning of Mass, in which the priest removes his biretta, and it also suggests the entrance of the catechumen (this time, Stephen) into the catacombs, where the novice convert will be asked several questions to determine the strength of his belief. Stephen's departure ends one "Mass" of Ulysses, and his ashplant becomes the crucifix carried from the church at the end of a religious ceremony; the bells in the church of Saint George ring to signal its conclusion. In the theological context of the chapter, the bee sting suffered by Bloom becomes the spear which pierced Christ's side, and his sore "footsoles" (a play on the word "soul") suggest the feet of Christ, which were pierced by nails.
It is fashionable today to view this religious symbolism in "Ithaca" as being suggestive of a Tri-union of Bloom, Stephen, and Molly, in which Bloom and Stephen share elements of God the Father and God the Son and in which Molly becomes the Mystical Bride — that is, the Bride of the Catholic Church. It is more probable, however, that Joyce is using religion as a metaphor to suggest the elevated possibilities that human nature can reach in certain moments. In contrast, at times, the intellectuality of Stephen and the crass materialism of Bloom fuse in a mystical, unspoken way. But Ulysses, one must always keep in mind, is basically a comic novel; it is not a theological treatise. At the zenith of their aspirations, Bloom and Stephen urinate alongside one another, with the urine becoming the modern, symbolic equivalent of sacramental wine. And, of course, the pedestrian Bloom will always dream of a bourgeois country estate and wonder how human excrement can be used industrially.
