Jesus , I've seen you on 100 crucifixes and in a 100 broken persons, but Jesus, I need to get away from these Good Friday moments. I need you to backtrack and see me up a tree like Zacchaeus and call me to come down - so we can sit down and have a good meal and a good talk together - and then plan a future together.
The title of my homily for this 33rd Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “Behold I Stand at the Door
and Knock.”
TODAY’S FIRST
READING
In today’s first reading from the Book
of Revelation we have a very well-known Biblical text, “Behold, I stand at
the door and knock.” [Rev. 3:20]
I would think we have heard that text and sermons on that text enough
that it has become a part of our spiritual life.
It knocks on our door!
And every time we have a sermon or a homily on this text from Revelation
the preacher always brings in the story of Holman Hunt’s famous painting, “The
Light of the World.”
We know the story - we’ve heard it in a hundred sermons. We know the key
message, “The knob is on the inside.”
The message of that painting and that text is that it’s our move.
Christ wants in - but do we want him in?
TODAY’S GOSPEL
And it doesn’t always happen on weekday readings that the first reading
fits in perfectly with the gospel, but today it does. [Cf. Luke 19: 1-10.]
Jesus invites himself into Zacchaeus’ house and Zacchaeus invites Jesus
into his life.
We know these stories and we know them well.
What a great way to begin personal prayer - whether here in church or in our Eucharistic chapel down below - or while
sitting on our back porch - or in a
special prayer chair - that we have in some quiet part of our house. To just pause, breathe, be, and before doing
anything else, to hear Jesus knocking on our door - on our mind - on our heart.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
“Behold I stand at the door and knock.”
What a great opening prayer to a time of prayer, “Come Lord Jesus. Come
Lord Jesus. Come on in, Lord Jesus. Come on in.”
BACK TO THE
PAINTING
The painting is entitled, “The Light of the World.”
In the painting we only see Jesus. He is standing there with lantern in
hand and it’s well lit. And his face and his garments radiate light.
In the painting we see the weeds and ivy all over the door area - as if
the door hasn’t been open for years.
Holman started the painting when he was 22 and didn’t finish it till he
was 29. It wasn’t till 50 years later that he explained the painting. The door
is the closed mind. I thought the meaning was very obvious - because maybe I
heard sermons on this many, many times. However, maybe not everybody gets it - if their minds
are closed to Jesus and closed to hearing an explanation.
The painting was started at night. Somewhere along the line, Holman Hunt
said he went to Bethlehem to see the light there - to make sure he had it
right.
There are 3 versions of this painting. The first and best is in Keble
Chapel in Oxford. He wasn’t happy with how they had it set up, so he did a
larger and second version - and this hangs in St Paul’s church London - where
Hunt is buried. It’s not as good. A
third smaller version is in Manchester.
I would think, unless you saw the painting in person, it doesn’t make
much difference because there are so many copies of this painting all around
the world - on many walls, in many books and movies and what have you.
Last night as I was doing some research on the painting, I noticed that
it went on a worldwide tour between 1905 to 1907. It’s said that 4/5 of the
population of Australia saw it.
We get that. We’ve all seen the painting somewhere along the line.
CONCLUSION
The title of my homily is, “Behold I Stand at the Door and Knock.
Surprise! Even if we keep the door locked, even if the knob is on the
inside, Jesus comes through walls. [Cf. John 20: 19-23]
November 15, 2016
BASIC
As basic as being nice….
As basic as rye bread and cold butter…. As basic as loving one another....
As basic as holding the door for the next person….
As basic as giving a phone number on an answering machine
slowly and then repeating it slowly ….
As basic as giving a subway seat to an older person
especially with packages ….
As basic as saying, “Nice moon tonight, God….”
As basic as using one’s car signal ….
As basic as not slamming doors - especially when others are napping ….
As basic as taking grandkids out for ice cream - often ….
As basic as leaving a public restroom neater than when
one used it ….
