Weekly HOMILY for 31, 2009: Unlock the Doors

Feast of Pentecost, Cycle B
Our Lady of Grace
May 31, 2009

Unlock the Doors
By (Rev. Msgr.) Nicholas P. Amato


One Man’s Fear

A friend of mine from a former parish I was in was told that he had cancer and only a short time to live.

After the initial shock and grieving, he decided to change some of his ways. For example, he found things that used to bother him, didn’t any more.

He made time for significant conversations with his two teenage sons. He wanted them to know how much he loved and how proud he was of them.

He made sure to tell his wife repeatedly how much he loved her and admired her.

And, after many years of not talking with his brother, he invited him to dinner and they were reconciled.

After all of this had taken place, my friend’s doctor retired and he had to find a new one. This new doctor confirmed that he indeed had cancer – but that it was treatable.

My friend began to weep. He explained to me later that he cried not only because he was relieved, but because he was afraid he would return to his previous ways.

He felt afraid that he would get caught up again in his old world mentality. He felt afraid that he would lose his newly found life.


The Disciples’ Fear

In today’s Gospel, we hear that the disciples have another kind of fear.

They are afraid that what happened to Jesus – being beaten and killed – will happen to them. They are huddled together, with the doors locked, feeling that they are a failure and have no future.

In the midst of this, when things could not seem worse, Jesus appears.

Isn’t this how we sometimes experience the presence of Jesus? Isn’t this how the man with cancer came to experience him?

Sometimes doesn’t it take us to reach rock bottom, feeling helpless and without a future before we really open ourselves to God, to Jesus, to the Holy Spirit?


Our Fear/ Jesus’ Peace

Now, notice, when Jesus appears, he does not give the disciples a tongue lashing for denying him and running away and being so afraid.

There’s a lesson right here for us in the way we, as individuals or as a Church, treat those whom we judge have done wrong. What does Jesus say?

The first word out of his mouth is “Peace!” That one word tells them that things are okay between them and him no matter how they feel.

That one word – peace – puts aside the past. And notice, Jesus says this without them saying anything at all, including an apology or a request for forgiveness.

It’s like us when we have had an argument or when we have hurt someone badly and they say, “Forget about it! Let’s just move on!” What relief the apostles must have felt!

They must have felt, “Whew! Now we can start all over.

“The past is past; our relationship with Jesus has a future and righting the past isn’t part of it.” That’s what Jesus’ greeting of “Peace!” must have meant to his disciples.


Fear/ Peace/ Future

What’s interesting is that Jesus says it again: “Peace be with you!”

This time the “Peace!” is about the future. Jesus wants them to unlock the doors.

He wants them to welcome in and go out to the world that had been making them afraid. He was sending them, as he now sends us, not to seek revenge for past offenses, but to bring peace, reconciliation, forgiveness – and again, even if it is not requested.

So today, I believe that Jesus doesn’t want a Church with locked doors. He doesn’t want us to lock out those who don’t seem to measure up to the standards or are not in 100% agreement with us.

That’s not ours – as individuals – to worry about. That’s living in fear; that’s living behind locked doors; that’s a life of wasted energy!

Jesus calls us to welcome in and to reach out at one and the same time. He wants us to notice the overlooked and neglected, those looked down upon and scorned.

That’s the best way, the Jesus way, to draw others to him as their Savior. And yes, it is a different way to do things.

It is not the way of the world and it might incur wonder and ridicule and rejection, but it is the way of Jesus.


Conclusion: The Spirit

Jesus gives the disciples and us his Spirit, the Holy Spirit.

This is our source of life and energy and strength for unlocking the doors and letting go of the fear, both of the past and of the future.

It is the Spirit will enable us to do what Jesus does.

We can breathe in this Spirit here at Mass when we hear those same words of Jesus, “Peace be with you!” We are energized by the Spirit, as well, when we receive the Eucharist.

And it is this life-giving fear-dissolving Spirit that will keep us from sliding back into our old self, as the man with cancer feared. It will empower us to live the new life of Jesus.