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Dear Parishioners, You have seen on our Jubilee Year Banner, "Open the Doors to Christ!". What doors do you think are meant? The only door that you or I can open—or close—to Christ is the door into our heart or soul. An act of the will is involved here: We either vote for God or against Him. If we ignore Jesus, the door is closed. If we choose all the attractions of this world in preference to God’s commandments and the precepts of the Church, the door is closed. And when the door is closed, we help create hell on earth. Anyone who reads the papers or sees the news should find it obvious and evident that many, many doors have been slammed in Christ’s face! Christ has been evicted from the hearts of many people—including many Catholics. So, what do we do? Is there no hope? This great Jubilee Year—2000 years since God joined us on earth!—is about to end. What have we done to open the door to Christ? John the Baptist prepared the way for Christ by calling people to repentance and conversion. Each one of us today is called to prepare the way for Christ in exactly the same way. Jesus, himself, said that there’s more joy in Heaven over one repentant sinner than over 99 righteous people who have no need to repent. So, in the short time before the end of this Year of Our Lord Two Thousand, let each of us resolve to receive the Sacrament of Penance by confession of our sins, especially if it’s been a long time. There will be joy in heaven. We will be able to celebrate Christ’s birth with an open door to our heart, and we can imagine at Christmas, that the Virgin Mary would be happy to let us hold her Son in our hands since we will have washed them in preparation to receive Him. Our reception of Holy Communion will then be a fitting time of Jubilation—a crown of this Jubilee Year! — Fr. Mark Taheny |
