Open the Door

A few weeks ago during my lunch break, I decided to drive to a nearby parish to visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. I was excited to visit this church for the first time. Quickly this excitement turned to disappointment when I tried to open the door and found that it was locked. I walked around the church and tried to open all the doors, yet none were open.

Since I could not enter the church to visit Jesus I pulled a page out of Fulton Sheen’s playbook and prayed right outside the church to be as close as possible to Jesus. A few minutes later, a woman from the parish came by to drop something off in the church. I spoke with her for a few minutes. She entered the church to drop off some things, but did not offer to let me in. In fact, she unlocked the door, went in, and then locked the door so that I could not get in while she was arranging things in the church.

I wasn’t sure whether to laugh at the absurdity of the situation or become angered. Here I was trying to pray with Jesus, but the doors were locked. The woman looked at me strangely when I told her that I was there to pray. I ended up finishing my prayers outside the church and drove back to work.

This situation highlights a huge problem in the Catholic Church today. We have become inward-focused and closed our hearts to Christ. The locked parish is merely a symbol of our closed mentality. We are hiding Christ from people by keeping our churches and faith to ourselves for fear of scorn by others.

Pope Francis reminds us in The Joy of the Gospel, “Our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door.”

I think the same thing should be said about our hearts.  They should be open so that those moved by the Holy Spirit find us welcoming and receptive to their questions, not a closed door. With a little intentionality, we can become doorways to Christ for others. One way to do this is through prayer. Each day ask God to use you to bring someone closer to Him. When we invite God to use us as his instruments, he surely will act.

Besides opening your heart, open your house to friends, neighbors and family. Invite some guests over for a dinner and share one way God is working in your life.

Help your parish become an inviting place. If the entrances to your church are frequently locked, ask the priest to open the church for an extra hour and then go pray with Jesus. Say hello to someone at Mass you have never met before.

As society becomes increasingly isolated, people will hunger greater for community and authentic relationships. Let us strive so that our parishes become places of true community, where people can encounter God through worship and each other.

Our Lady untier of knots, open our hearts, parishes and communities to God’s love!