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The Southern Cross, Page 8
Thursday, April 13, 2000
cross through the “door of Jesus” into
the church’s mysterious depths, the
pope suggested.
For Christians this is the deepest
movement of our being, the deepest
threshold experience. And God finds
ways of helping us move along, we
recall from Jacob’s dream.
We may not be blessed with the
opportunity of making a pilgrimage
to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and
physically walking over the holy
door threshold. But we always are
blessed with the ability to do so in
the depths of our hearts.
a a a
The Easter season can become a
“threshold of the heart” experience:
We pass “through” Christ, our door,
whose resurrection opened a pathway
for us that not even death’s seeming
finality can jam.
We might fruitfully think of Christ
as the great gateway within which all
the other doorways we mentioned ear
lier find themselves.
If so, to walk through Christ into
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are likely so common and
stirring because they etch
something of the deep-down
movements of our lives* made
up of many crossings.... The
Easter season can become a
‘threshold of the heart’
experience.’ 9
the depths of the church would mean
becoming enabled to walk through all
the passageways of our human pil
grimage.
After all, what do we discover upon
entering into our churches? We dis
cover ourselves, our brothers and sis
ters, our sainted ancestors in the
faith, with all our connections and
“baggage.” However, we’re not out in
the cold, but in a “home,” with a table,
that nourishes and strengthens us for
journeys that await us.
The jubilee holy door was sealed
shut at first, evoking our need for
preparation in order to be able to cross
over the threshold.
Journeys require readiness. So
we had three years of special prepa
ration for the jubilee, and we might
liken the Lenten season to a scaled-
down version of that three-year
preparation.
This year’s Holy Week, culminat
ing in the Easter Eucharist, can thus
both renew our relationship with
Christ as the true pathway for us and
personalize our call to walk over the
great jubilee holy door into the myste
rious depths of the church itself.
(Thompson is a professor of theol
ogy at Duquesne University, Pitts
burgh, Pa.)
All contents copyright ©2000 by CNS
By William M. Thompson
Catholic News Service
T
.t seemed jerkier than usual, put
ting forth more effort in fits and
starts. After awhile it jammed, jolting
you. Lights went out, there was a
sudden, slight drop and then a jam
ming once again.
The “What if?” that irregularly
passed through your mind — “What if
this old elevator gets stuck?” — had
happened. You had passed 3. Now,
you reason, you are likely at — or
better than bordering — the fourth-
floor landing.
But the doors stubbornly refuse
to open. You keep pressing the
alarm button, which you can just
make out with the help of a slight
amount of light. But you aren’t sure
anyone will hear you because you
yourself can’t hear any noise from
the alarm.
Pressing the “open door” button is
your one hope. The dark shaft’s cold
ness is starting to make you shiver,
and the silence is so lonely.
Passing through your bedroom
doorway to wash up reminds you of
last night’s dream about the jammed
elevator doors. Being able to walk
through feels better than usual this
particular morning.
Dreams about “thresholds” are
likely so common and stirring because
they etch something of the deep-down
movement of our lives, made up of
many crossings.
Cross the thresholds we must, even
the steep ones. To refuse or delay too
much results in being easily agitated,
a sense of just not fitting in where we
are, mentally wandering off or wish
ing we were somewhere else even
when we are with our closest friends.
mam
Jacob’s dremi or vision of the lad
der ascending to heaven (Gn 28:12) is
possibly the most celebrated threshold
story in the Old Testament. The an
gels going up and down that ladder
seem to symbolize that the threshold
to God is not only open, but that God
finds ways to help us move along, even
when we seem unable.
Biologically, we cross from child
hood to adolescence to young adult
hood and into the older years. But on
the soul level we may not always do it
so well.
Keeping doors open in relationships
— and walking through them — can
be a formidable undertaking: between
individuals (husbands and wives, par
ents and children, friends and friends,
employers and employees, those with
and those under authority, etc.); be
tween groups (Christians and
non-Christians, clergy and laity, etc.);
F00DF0RTH0UGHT
Opening the doors
we thought
were jammed
CNS illustration by Joan Hyme
between races and nations, and on the
list goes.
Thank God that Jacob dreamed of
God sending angels down that lad
der to assist us. Something rather
mysterious and gracious does seem
to help move us over these challeng
ing passageways so that resent
ment, rage, hatred and other mani
festations of doorways that are
firmly shut pass away.
In a declaration titled The Mystery
of the Incarnation, announcing the
beginning of the Jubilee Year 2000,
Pope John Paul II aptly likened the
traditional jubilee holy door to Christ,
whom John 10:8 describes as the gate
through which the sheep may pass.
The holy door appeals to us to regard
the jubilee year as a crossing. We
Doorways — holy doors —symbolize the current jubilee year. A goal is to open some important doors in our
lives.
But, in concrete terms, what kinds of doorways am I talking about?
—There are people who need us to believe in them. Our children require this. But perhaps we haven't believed in
them yet. Can the door to this belief be opened?
—Someone needs to be loved by us unconditionally. But perhaps we’ve had conditions that have blocked our love.
Can the door to unconditional love be opened?
—Others out there want us to recognize and accept the small steps they’ve taken to make their lives better. But
perhaps we were looking for giant steps. Can we negotiate the doorway that leads to affirming the good others try to
do?
It takes courage — and hope — to walk through the important doorways in our lives. We’re uncertain what
things will be like on the other side.
But I think you can see why the theme of the jubilee door punctuates Easter very well. The doorways we’re
talking about are passages to a new way of living.
16 David Gibson, Editor, Faith Alive!