DOORS
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 5thTuesday after Easter is, “Doors.”
I’m sure we’ve all thought about doors as an image or a metaphor from time to time. There certainly are poems, but is there a homily behind the image of a door?
When you hear the word, “Doors!” – what hits you? The rock group from the second half of the 1960’s – Jim Morrison etc. “The Doors”? I never listened to them – but I did like some of Bob Dylan and the Beatles’ songs. But I was more a Simon and Garfunkel listener. They didn’t have as hard a sound.
What thoughts, what images, what stories, what fantasies, what possibilities are on the other side of the door?
Today’s first reading closes with this sentence which triggered the title and theme for this homily: “And when they arrived [Paul and Barnabas in Antioch], they called the church together and reported what God had done with them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” [Acts 14:27]
DOORS
In gift shops around the world have you seen those big paper posters to buy – rolled up – but when opened up – they are “The Doors of Dublin” or “The Doors of Paris” or “The Doors of Amsterdam”? They even have, “The Doors of Buffalo” and they are very interesting.
And these posters show 20 or 36 doors – or lots of doors – often beautifully painted – rich dark red or blue or yellow or glossy black – with expensive looking shiny brass door knobs or door openers.
The poster for “The Doors of Paris” – show 110 doors. Interesting. What’s behind those doors? Who’s behind those doors?
SOME HOMEWORK FOR YOU TO DO
Get a piece of paper and draw 10, 20 or 30 doors.
If you can’t draw, just take an 8 ½ by 11 piece of paper – and draw boxes and put on the bottom or top: “The Doors of My Life.”
Then write in the boxes or on the doors you drew – words like, “4th grade classroom” – “Front door Elon College”, or “Maryland” – the door to a bar where you met your spouse – a wrong door, a right door – a door that was slammed in your face or the place of a job you turned down or walked away from – or the front gate of Paris Island.
If you’re on a roll, you might come up with 20, 30, 40 doors. If you want to put them in order of importance or significance, do that.
Talk to each other! Get another’s take on your life. Surprise! The other might say, “I never knew that about you and here we are married for 14 years now.” Or have the other guess the most significant doors of your life. And we might say, “I didn’t know you thought that way or wondered that way about me.” Ask others about the doors of their life.
Doors – an interesting topic to open up. Doors: a great metaphor.
GRAHAM GREEN
Graham Green – in the first chapter of his 1940 novel, The Power and the Glory, wrote, “There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.”
That’s an intriguing observation. Is it true? I suspect on first instance people would go “ho hum” or “not something I ever thought about”. Yet, on second thought, I would think it has a lot of mysterious possibilities for wonderings. If you were asked point blank to jot down 3 key turning points in your childhood, what would they be?
Notice the word “key” as in the key that opens a door.
So who knows what people would answer to what they thought was a key moment in their childhood – that opened up for them – the future – and it came pouring in?
Someone might say it was the moment that my father walked in the door when I was 8 years old and he announced that he got this great job in Minneapolis and we moved and our life was changed.
Another might say, “It was when we visited my cousins' house in Wilmington, Delaware, one summer and my cousin, whom I really didn’t know, was playing a guitar down the basement – and I opened up the door and went down there and he let me try his guitar. That was the moment. When I got home I asked my dad if I could get a guitar and he said, ‘Sure, if you pay for it – so start saving.’ My dad knew from experience with me that I was a fad person – and nothing ever lasted. Well, I was determined to prove him wrong. I saved and saved till the day came when we walked to the music store on Main Street. When we walked in that front door – I knew music was my future and it was – starting from that day when I heard my cousin playing a guitar.”
It could be a door called death, divorce or disaster. Doors ….
For me it was a priest who opened up our grammar school classroom door – OLPH Brooklyn, NY – and gave us a talk about his work in Brazil. He showed us pictures of priests wearing pith helmets on horseback. He talked about his work with great excitement and asked, “Is there anyone in this classroom who would be interested in being a Redemptorist Missionary in Brazil?” I raised my hand.
I never got to Brazil – but we had horses in our major seminary and I got to shovel horse manure morning and evening – one week every month – for six years. It was great training for speaking in public.
MADELINE ALBRIGHT
In a commencement address a few years back – some May day – on some university campus, Madeline Albright said to the graduating class, “Remember: it’s not who you know. It’s whom you know.”
I read her address – but that’s the only thing I remembered – probably because there are a few grammatical things I never get straight. Who or whom? Affect or effect?
Door question: whom do you know who has opened up doors for you in this life?
My nephew Gerard was out of work for about a year. He sent out over 100 resumes. Nothing worked. He goes to a party – meets a guy he used to work with on Wall Street in New York who asks, “Gerard, where are you working now?” “Oh, I’m out of work!” “Oh, okay, here’s my card. Drop in and see me Monday morning.” He’s been working there ever since.
DOORS: OPEN OR CLOSED?
If you had one of those 8 ½ by 11 inch laminated signs – that hang on doors – with a chain or a string on it – one side saying, “Open” and the other side saying, “Closed” – which side would better describe you: open or closed? Which side do you show to your family?
THE DOOR CALLED “FAITH”
You’re here this morning. You walked through these doors?
In the first reading Paul and Barnabas reported to the Christian community at Antioch all the doors God had opened up for them – especially the door of faith to the Gentiles.
Who opened up the doors of faith for you?
Yesterday we had in our parish two weddings, a baptism, a funeral, and two large first communion Masses.
People walked through our doorways – maybe for the first time in years – maybe for the first time in a week. What were they thinking when they sat there at these key life moments?
Today’s gospel – and many of the gospels for Sundays after Easter take place in the Upper Room. It was the place Jesus met for his Last Supper with his disciples. It was the place whose doors were locked shut after Jesus was killed – and Jesus appeared in the midst of his disciples and he said to them, "Peace".
In the scriptures we discover that doors go two ways. We enter into rooms where God is and sometimes God– Father, Son and Holy Spirit - enter into our rooms. Sometimes we knock on Jesus’ door; sometimes Jesus knocks on our door.
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says we have inside of us an inner room. I always found that image fascinating. An inner room – somewhere inside of this mystery called “me”. What does that room look like? Empty? Clean? Cobwebs? Well used? Locked? [Cf. Matthew 6:6]
C.S. Lewis in his writings – talks about the secret door – in the back of the wardrobe – that if opened, leads to mysterious places.
Lewis Carroll in his story of Alice in Wonderland talks about the mysterious hole Alice falls into and leads her to mysterious places deep down inside her life.
Today’s second reading has God coming down to us – and creating a new heavens and a new earth . God comes down and recreates the earthly city into the New Jerusalem – the new earth. He wipes away every tear. There will be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain – for the old order has passed away. Isn't that close to a line in a Bob Dylan song? And the one on the throne says, “Behold I make all things new.” [Check my Quote of the Day for tomorrow, May 3, 2010]
Am I open or close to new life – to a marriage with God - to an amazing relationship with God?
Imaging going through life and never opening up the door of our soul? The door to our inner room?
Imagine never going into that mysterious, wonderful room, where we can sit with Jesus and talk about life to – where he feeds us – where he washes our feet?
Knock on that door!
CONCLUSION
Let me close with a short mysterious poem by Emily Dickinson. It’s called, # 49 – and was written around 1858.
“I never lost as much but twice,
And that was in the sod.
Twice have I stood a beggar
Before the door of God.”
Angels – twice descending
Reimbursed my store –
Burglar! Banker! – Father!
I am poor once more.”
When I read this, I can picture myself standing before the door of God. What do I need? What am I begging God for today?
