In our society of electric and automatic doors, we do not think of doors as symbols of recognition. We seldom have a door slammed in our face, so we do not think of doors is thresholds of rejection, rather, we think about doors as territorial barriers against our fears of being robbed, or otherwise violated.
But what are the doors that our Lord should say “I am the door?” Doors stand between life and death. Doors stand between public and private. Doors stand between mine and yours. Doors offer protection, and privacy. Doors establish a boundary between the self and the other. Doors allow entry and offer escape. Doors signal hospitable greeting or blatant rejection.
Doors are the last barriers across which guards throw themselves, for the invading army will enter only through their deaths. The final value of the door, lies in the flesh of those who defend its threshold. The final value of a door hinges on the will to defend and protect to the death, the life within.
Imagine you’re a astronaut out in space, umbilically attached to the craft. Out before you, the earth spins in beauty. Your space mission is completed, and the air reserve for your space walk is almost gone. You reach for the hatch lever. There’s nothing there. The door you came out of is gone. You scour and claw the bolted the surfaces of the craft. The way in is gone and you’re lost. Suddenly, from within, a new and unseen door is thrown open and you are pulled through it to escape into life. The one who threw open the unseen entry becomes for you the gate of life.
You are a minor, a mile or so under the Earth. The shaft collapses. The dust of the earth becomes poison inbreathed Time passes, and there is no escape. Air diminishes. Your flesh is parched. Far off a voice cries out your name, saying “A door will be carved out of the rock!” Time passes, and you cling to the echo of the voice. Suddenly making a night of your death as bright as the day, there is a door. A way out splits open above you, hands are laid upon you and you are carried home.
You are a full-term baby, trapped inside your mother, whose labors are unable to birth you. What was your life water becomes slowly a flooding threat. Your heart beats harder under the stress, then ever so weakly. Into your hiding place pierces, a cutting blade. A blaze of light, and a leaping out of the darkness, you are lifted out of death through the door into the flesh. You gaze upon the company who delivered you, giving them a crying sign of approval.
You are a secretary descending in an elevator from the 106 floor, long after hours. The car jolts, and jerks, and bounces to a stop. The phone doesn’t work There’s a black out. The emergency button doesn’t appear to be doing anything. The guard does not know you were there. The building is deserted for a three day weekend. Hours pass. Panic envelopes you as the walls of the elevator seem to shrink. Your thirst and craving for light overtakes you. Then unimaginably, the ceiling of the compartment is thrown back. Hands grasp you and deliver you from your prison. You are free and embraced in welcome.
You are an adolescent girl in an underdeveloped nation. With 700 others you have been taken and kidnapped to make a political statement, and placed in a large room not knowing anything but fear. You are kept and days pass with little food or water. Fear is all that you know or feel. Sickness sets in for many. You beat upon the barricaded doors screaming and walling for your parents who do not come. There’s no way out. In the midst of this fear- filled company, despite the barred doors, there appears a bleeding man. This Holy One of the people points to the wound in his side, and invites you all through it. You were shepherd through, a flock fleeing to life from the captures you knew not, nor understood by this blood stained man who shows you to freedom.
As our door into the dominion of God, Jesus is our shepherd. Through Christ, we find our way home to God. By Christ, we are gathered in despite our tendency to stray, despite our stupidities, and despite false trap doors. Christ died before the enemies of God to protect the dominion of God. The pattern of God’s will in Christ is cruciform. On the axis of the cross the stranger is called sibling, the threat is overcome forever, and life spreads out before us abundantly. Christ is our guardian of the threshold of God’s mercy for us. Christ is the one who bore the burden of us across the gate, carrying us inside the borders of the Trinity.
Christ as our door is the wide flung hospitality of God, calling us home to the feast. Stand in the threshold in this assembly. Pray, standing at the altar with open hands, and look up to see the heavens opened. Gaze upon the baptismal waters to see the river that washes us through Christ and beaches us at the throne of God. Be mindful of God’s approval and of the power that God gives. These promises this day are for you, for your children and for all who are far off, for everyone who Christ invites. So, my dear people, let us heed the voice, and be shepherded through.
Let us pray.
In today’s gospel Jesus reminds us that He is the Good Shepherd who cares for us and that He is the gateway through which we can gain entry to eternal life. We pray for the wisdom, strength and perseverance to live by His commandments and earn the rewards which He has so generously promised us. We pray to the Lord.
Our Catholic community is in need of bishops, priests and deacons to continue our ministry. We pray that the Holy Spirit enlighten men and women to sacramental life in our denomination. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for all those in our church, men and women, ordained and lay, who have been called to the role of shepherd, that they may follow closely the example of Christ and bear witness to His goodness. We pray to the Lord.
We pray for all those who in our Church, carry out the mission of Christ, proclaiming His gospel, comforting the sick and bereaved, feeding the poor and hungry, and facilitating the baptized. We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray for Easter joyfulness in our worshipping assembly. May our church proclaim the love of the Good Shepherd and ease the burdens of our people. May we learn to serve bringing comfort and delight to every corner of the world. We pray to the Lord.
Let us pray for desperate people unable to find solace. For people experiencing layoffs, continuing migraine headaches, daily hunger, and the inability to pay rent on time, and so many other needs. May the Shepherd welcome our moments of fragility and bring grace in these times. We pray to the Lord.
As we continue to have gun violence in our streets, we pray that the Lord forgive and heal within our streets. May those who feel the urge to inflict harm, be helped before doing so and give them the love of Christ and mental health assistance. We pray to the Lord.
Our church is plagued with needs, and so we pray for benefactors who are able to help our tiny parish during its need. The leaking sewage and potentially malfunctioning pump, the ever enlarging sink hole, our electricity and water bills and our need for insurance. We pray to the Lord.
For those on our parish prayer list, that they may receive swift answers to their needs and that they may find consolation through Christ’s healing presence. We pray to the Lord.
We bow our heads and remember in silence our own personal intentions and the intentions of those who have asked for our prayers (pause). We pray to the Lord.
Father God, you opened your heart to all of us when you sent your Son to redeem us from our many sins. You offer us many doors for which we can walk through, and yet we miss them or ignore them. Help us to look more carefully for the doors you provide when we are in our most desperate needs and for when you are merely trying to get our attention.
Lord God in heaven, today we gather as your people to worship you in spirit and truth. We celebrate your life in us and celebrate your body, the church. Help us to reflect your love for us with the love we have for each other. It is with great joy that we come before you today, joined by your Spirit. Thank you for your love and mercy shown to us. Thank you that we can comfort another with the same love and mercy that has comforted us. Praise be to you, our shepherd. We are your people, the sheep of your pasture. Help us today to understand more fully how you have made us to live together and serve each other. Help us to understand your plan for your body and to give you praise. We ask all these things through Christ, our Lord. Amen.
God Love You +++
The Most Rev. Robert Winzens
Pastor – St. Francis Chapel
San Diego, CA.
As a small parish, we come to you all as beggars! All non-profits compete for your support, and many serve the community’s great needs, and we do not ask you to stop giving to them. But maybe one week or month, we ask that you consider a small donation to our humble parish. Your generous support also allows us to continue these important projects that fuel the movement of progressive Christianity. God will look on your donation grant you his grace in abundance! Thank you and God bless you! +++
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