Closet Christians

Opening the doors of our hearts and homes to Christ

10/03/2024

LK 10:1-12 Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.”

As you all know well by now, one of my favorite past-times as a priest is to visit people in their homes. Usually the evening includes dinner and a house blessing. Now this past-time is ironic for me because growing up we never invited the priest over to our home because we put priests on a high pedestal. And my family felt that our humble home was not worthy to have Jesus’ ambassador come for dinner.

So, I can understand why some people get super nervous when I come over for supper. One mother, however, greeted me with a big smile at the door and said, “We are so happy you came for a visit! Our teenage son finally cleaned his room because he knew you were coming!” So, there can be many reasons to invite a priest over for supper.

But the main reason I love to visit parish families is because I finally get to know my parishioners. That intimacy is hardly possible after Mass with a five-second handshake and a hurried “Hello!” One way I symbolize this getting to know you is by blessing the family’s home. And when I bless a home, I bless the whole home, including the closets. By the way, you never know someone until you look into their closet and see where they throw everything right before the priest arrives.

But I sprinkle holy water in every room of the house, including bathrooms, closets, laundry rooms, garages, and even front and back porches. And what the family is really doing (in a spiritual sense) is not only opening their closets to me but opening their closets to Christ. Why is that so significant?

Well, so that nothing is hidden from his loving eyes, his gentle touch, and his transforming grace. In other words, when we open our homes to priests, we really open our hearts to Christ, especially those cluttered closets where we throw all the stuff we don’t want anyone else to see.

Part of the ritual of blessing a home includes today’s gospel from Lk 10:1-12. Notice the first verse where it says, “Jesus sent 72 other disciples ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit.” That is, Jesus is sending these disciples as his personal ambassadors so that the people who welcome them, in effect welcome Christ. So, my family was not far off to put priests on a pedestal. Priests are indeed Christ’s ambassadors.

My friends, whether or not you invite a priest over for dinner and to bless your house, no one is exempt from inviting Jesus into the deepest recesses of their hearts. Today, therefore, ask yourself: is there some corner or crevice of my life that I have not asked Jesus to be the King and Lord of? Archbishop Fulton Sheen once said, “We all cultivate little gardens in the back of our hearts which are just for us and not for Jesus.”

One Protestant friend of mine remarked: “I find it easy to tithe 10 percent of my income to the Church because I know that all 100 percent already belongs to Jesus!” That is the right attitude of someone who has opened all his closets to Christ. But I am convinced there are three perennial closets we keep closed to Christ, and inside are lurking our love for money, sex, and power.

By the way, this opening our closets to Christ is precisely how we live the third Luminous Mystery, commonly titled, “The Proclamation of the Gospel and the Invitation to Conversion.” If you have trouble meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, think about Luke 10:1-12 and priests coming to dinner and blessing your closets when you pray that third luminous mystery. That is the meaning of that mystery.

Every time I visit a family for dinner and walk across the threshold of their house I say “Peace.” Why? Well, because that is what Jesus told his 72 disciples today: “Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household’.” And that is what Christ’s ambassador brings to our homes and our hearts, namely, Christ’s peace. But only if we open our doors to him, especially our closet doors where we hide things from the eyes of the world.

Praised be Jesus Christ!