Revelation 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.Rediscover the central position of Christ, our “Holy Door.” by Mother M. Paola Mancini, pddm
Christ is our “Door”
“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God! You have come into the world to triumph over death. You have come to illuminate human life through the Gospel. The Church greets you. You are our hope. You alone have words of eternal life.
You who came into the world on Bethlehem night, remain with us!
You who are the Way and the Truth and the Life, guide us!
You who came from the Father, lead us to him in the Holy Spirit, along the path which you alone know and which you have revealed to us, that we might have life and have it in abundance.
You O Christ, the Son of the living God, be for us the Door!
Be for us the true Door, symbolized by the door which on this night we have life and have it in abundance.
Be for us the true Door, symbolized by the door which on this night we have solemnly opened!
Be for us the Door which leads us into the mystery of the Father. Grant that no one may remain outside his embrace of mercy and peace!” John Paul II
Our meeting with the Divine Master, Way and Truth and Life, the only door to salvation, has concrete consequences in our daily lives.
We bear witness to the bond which exists between peace and solidarity with its origin in our vocation as members of a human family. We can all find ways to live this spirit by “sharing the joys and the hopes, the grief and the anxieties of the people of this age” (Gaudiem et Spes 1) within the charism of the Pauline Family, which is committed to “presenting to all the charity of the truth.”
The Eucharist remains the place from which our Divine Master teaches us to consume our lives in apostolic charity by directing all of our energy and resources to the communication of our Divine Master as the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life for the world. We hear our Divine Master, present in the Eucharist, continuously repeat these words: “Do not fear. I am with you. From here I will enlighten you. Have a contrite heart.”
The culture of forgiveness, which we are called upon to foster, also springs from the Eucharist. We can begin with the certainty that we have received God’s forgiveness in celebration and joy as presented in Luke’s Gospel (cf. Lk 15: the lost sheep, the lost coin, the return of the prodigal son).
A fervent examination of conscience in light of the Word of God will make us aware of our own sinfulness and need for forgiveness. This is attained in a special way through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, which finds its fullest expression in the indulgences. These convey the fullness of God’s mercy by pardoning the consequences of sin and restoring the believer to the life of grace.
May we live in “constant conversion,” enjoying the evangelical joy of a “contrite heart” in order to have the grace to communicate the spirit of reconciliation, within families, within society and among all nations.
The centuries progress and change that history of our fragile human freedom but he, the Lord, remains unchanged: yesterday, today and forever.
