Year of Mercy: Keep the doors open!

by Admin · Published December 24, 2015 · Updated December 21, 2015

From Paul Traynor, Benoni

With respect and appreciation I applaud Pope Francis and his institution of the Year of Mercy.

Pope Francis opens the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome Dec. 13. Holy doors around the world were opened at city cathedrals, major churches and sanctuaries as part of the Jubilee of Mercy. (CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters)

Pope Francis opens the Holy Door at the Basilica of St. John Lateran in Rome. Holy doors around the world were opened at city cathedrals, major churches and sanctuaries as part of the Jubilee of Mercy. (CNS photo/Tony Gentile, Reuters)

The Holy Father has shown himself to be both urgent and consistent in his papal mission of reaching out to a broken Church and a broken world, and reminding us of the joy and richness of God�s love and mercy.

The symbolism of the open door is also powerful and rich, an invitation to come in, come home.

My attempts to share this appreciation with non-Catholic friends and family have been met with varied responses.

Francis is widely appreciated. However, my enthusiasm over the Holy�doors has been tempered by the obverse side of this symbolic coin. That, of course, is the (normally) 24-year span of brickwork.

Which image is symbolically more telling for the Church: its Jubilee Year of openness and welcome, or its 24 years of bricked-up defence work which seems necessary to highlight it?

Now, surely, is the time to say loudly: �Keep the doors open!�