On Christmas Eve, December 24, 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica to inaugurate the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope. Through this door will pass pilgrims who seek to adopt a greater holiness of life and to embrace the spirit of Hope. Such doors have been opened during these days in many major Churches throughout our world as we strive for a deeper response to our faith and a hope filled vision of the future.
The symbol of a door offers much worthwhile material for reflection. We think of a door as something that leads to a new place, as something that broaches barriers, as something that invokes a freedom of movement, as something that brings a person from one place to another.
Pope Francis speaks about the Church with a portal that offers acceptance with outstretched arms. Everyone receives an invitation to come in:
The Church has the doors wide open to receive the needy, the penitent, and not only the just or those who believe they are perfect! (Pope Francis, 18 October 2014)
Jesus describes himself as the door (often translated as “the gate”) which opens unto salvation and fullness of life:
Jesus said again, “Amen, amen, I say to you, I am the gate for the sheep. . . I am the door. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture.” (Jn 10:7, 9)
Yes, a door offers a wonderful image as a pathway to hope. And, Jesus is that door for us. What had seemed closed off at one point becomes open and what had seemed overwhelming becomes possible. We can envision the challenge that some doors might present for some of us. We can imagine the gateway that could lead to growth in virtue, the threshold that could demand a change of life, the entrance that could open into a deeper spirituality.
As Vincentians, reflecting on the importance of doors might draw our minds to the 13 Houses Jubilee Project of the Famvin Homeless Alliance. We know how it is aligned with the Pilgrim of Hope theme of the Church’s Jubilee Year 2025. Who values a door more than someone who finds that it lead into their own home and a richer independence with dignity? It becomes the place where one welcomes others. It defines a place of belonging. It opens unto a space where family gathers, and through which one goes forth to work and contributes to a better world.
The Holy Door stands as a rich symbol for us in this Jubilee Year in many ways. As one passes through it, the encouragement to hope invites new possibilities. We can resolve to allow this Jubilee door to bring us to changes of life that promote our own spirituality and the benefit of others.
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