May 2016
Reflections of God's Goodness
On December 8, 2015, Pope Francis opened the ‘Holy Door’ into the Year of Mercy. The opening of this massive door, normally sealed with bricks and mortar, symbolically opened the flood gates of grace and released the power of God’s love and mercy into our world and into our lives. Pope Francis wants no one left out of this experience of grace…
May the gesture of directing our thoughts and prayers to God each time we cross the threshold of our door, signify a passage through the Holy Door, because the mercy of God is able to transform hearts…
Each time we open our ‘Holy Door’, we also open our hearts to more of God’s grace and mercy and close the door on unforgiveness and selfishness. Our monthly reflections have encouraged us with words from Scripture and words from Pope Francis to deepen our understanding and grow in our practice of mercy and forgiveness. Jesus Himself says...
Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,
[then] I will enter his house…
Jesus will come through the door of our life and into our hearts to accomplish His work through us—if only we will grasp the handle and open the door for Him. We know our world is in great need of God. Mercy, love and kindness are often absent from homes and relationships. Many children are abandoned to their own devices, which leaves them vulnerable to the evil lurking behind the doors of our culture. We must do something!
As we pray “your kingdom come” in the words that Jesus taught us, I invite you to remember the lyrics of a contemporary Christian song by that name….
God put a million doors in the world
forHis love to walk through
—one of those doors is you
One of those doors is YOU!
Yes, each of us can become a ‘holy door’ for another person—a door to deeper understanding and experience of love and mercy, a way for Jesus to touch the heart of a person seeking Him.
May you be a “door in the world for His love to walk through.”
Blessings,
Sister Mary Ann Barnhorn
Director of Development
