Guess That’s My Church

Welcoming everyone into our hearts like Jesus

John 20:19-31

On the evening of that first day of the week, when the doors were locked, where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. The disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”…Now a week later his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with them. Jesus came, although the doors were locked, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.”

          I love to see the doors of our church wide open, especially at the end of Mass. Now, I don’t say that just because open doors means that Mass is over; but also because I can see all the way down Garrison Avenue, and into Oklahoma. One Sunday at the end of Mass after the ushers opened the doors, I leaned over to Dc. Charlie and said, “You know, my heart always skips a beat when our church doors open.” He asked, “Why is that?” I replied, “Because I can see the Indian Territory.” I think there’s something beautiful about open church doors, while on the other hand, there is something sad about locked church doors.  Can you remember the days when church doors were never locked? It wasn’t that long ago.

          In his very first encyclical called “The Joy of the Gospel,” Pope Francis wrote about this phenomenon. He said, “The Church is called to be the house of the Father, with doors always wide open. One concrete sign of such openness is that our church doors should always be open, so that if someone, moved by the Spirit, comes there looking for God, he or she will not find a closed door” (Evangelii gaudium, no. 47). Have you ever felt moved to come to church – to pray, or to sit quietly with Jesus, or to get away from your screaming kids – and found the church doors locked? How sad to squander such an inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

          In the gospel today, Jesus visits the apostles and he finds their doors locked. And this happens two times in the gospel, not just once. But the real doors Jesus found locked were not the ones made of wood, but the doors of the apostles’ hearts. Their hearts were locked because of fear, and Jesus was not able to enter. Isn’t fear the same reason why our church doors are locked, too? You see, fear may keep us safe from robbers, but it also locks others out, others whom we should love. And when we lock others out, we lock Jesus out, too.

          Two weeks ago, I received an email that I want to share with you. At first, when I glanced at the subject line of the email, I thought it said, “Complaint.” And I thought, “Oh, boy, what did Dc. Greg do this time??” But when I looked more closely, I saw the subject line really read: “Compliment.” It read: “Hi, Fr. John. My wife and I recently moved here from the Las Vegas area and have been randomly visiting the three Catholic churches in Fort Smith on Sundays to determine where we’ll feel more comfortable.” (I thought: “Yep, they’ll fit right in here with all the other Roamin’ Catholics, who visit different churches on Sundays!”) He went on: “Immaculate Conception fits the bill for a number of reasons: the religious activities available, the people we’ve met, the attitude of devotion shown by the parishioners and many other intangibles come to mind.” Now comes the best part, he continued: “My wife is Presbyterian and has for some time been considering RCIA. We’ve already spoken to your RCIA coordinator and set up a meeting for early June…I feel the Holy Spirit moved us both to want to make Immaculate Conception our home, and we will be completing the registration form to join.” Now, I don’t share that to criticize our neighboring Catholic parishes, but only to say this: we may lock up our church at night, but we never lock up our hearts. You see, the best compliment you can get is having an open heart, while the worst complaint you can receive is having a closed heart. The doors to your heart are the doors that matter.

          You know, as nice as it is to receive such an email, I also know we need to examine our hearts and check our doors to make sure they are not locked. Ask yourself today: is there someone you have locked out of your heart? Is there someone in your family, a brother or a sister, a spouse, or a mother-in-law, who has been locked out of your heart? Maybe it is a group of people like Muslims or immigrants or prisoners, who are not welcome inside your heart? How about people from different denominations or sexual orientations; can they come in? What about Donald Trump and his hair, or Hilary Clinton and the chip on her shoulder: is there enough room for those towering personalities? What about poor people, or those with tattoos, or the mentally ill and the severely handicapped? You see, if anyone is left out of your heart, then you’ve left Jesus out of your heart. Just like in the gospel today, Jesus keeps visiting us again and again “although the doors were locked.”

          Have you heard the song by Maren Morris called “My Church”? She sings that she feels closer to God driving in her car than attending church services. She sings:

I’ve cussed on a Sunday

I’ve cheated and I’ve lied

I’ve fallen down from grace,

A few too many times.

But I find holy redemption

When I put this car in drive

Roll the windows down and turn up the dial

[Here’s the Chorus]

Can I get a hallelujah,

Can I get an amen,

Feels like the Holy Ghost running through ya,

When I play the highway FM

I find my soul revival,

Singing every single verse

Yeah, I guess that’s my church.

Yeah, I guess that’s my church.”

          You know, for some people driving around in a car can be more of a “religious experience” than coming to church on Sunday, because it’s easier to open their car door than to open the church door. When the doors of our church open my heart skips a beat because I can see the Indian Territory. When people from the Indian Territory look inside our church doors, does their heart skip a beat?

          Praised be Jesus Christ!