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My dear Sisters,
The time is ripe now to enter into the holy season of Advent, a season of hope and grace. It is a season of letting Jesus to come to us. So the clarion call is to keep the door wide open in order to welcome Him when He comes. When will He come, where will He meet and how will He appear – no one knows! Ours is to stay awake and be prepared!
There is a beautiful picture by the famous artist, Holman Hunt. In the picture, Christ is seen standing in a garden holding a lantern in one hand and with the other, knocking on a door. A friend of the artist said to him, “Holman, you have made a mistake. The door you have painted does not have a handle.” “It is not a mistake,” answered the artist. “For that is the door of the human heart and it can only be opened from the inside.”
Dear sisters, Jesus standing outside and knocking carries a central message: Open up! Let me enter your life. Each part of it, I will guide you to what benefits your growth.” Jesuit Scientist Teilhard de Chardin, understood the necessity of opening the door inward to find and claim the inner beauty and goodness. Reflecting on his spiritual growth, he observed this truth – “The deeper I descend myself, the more I find God at the heart of my being.” Thomas Merton said the same thing differently, “To find love I must enter into the sanctuary where it is hidden, which is the mystery of God.” Opening the door of our heart means to enter into the vast treasure of who we are and to the divine presence within us. Shall we dear sisters, make humble efforts during this season of Advent, to open the doors of our hearts to HIM WHO IS KNOCKING and meet Him who is SEATED INSIDE? The choice is ours – to open or not to open, to meet or not to meet. What do we wish to choose - if we choose to open, Life and Life Giver will be ours!
Our Blessed Mother perfectly exemplifies as to how we should keep ourselves open to receive the Life-Giver. Let us be guided by her and pray in all humility – Lord, at certain times the door of my heart squeaks with willful resistance. It also gets rusty from lack of use, refuses to budge and won’t loosen. Come with your oilcan of grace filled love. Release what keeps me from being true to you. I open the door of my heart to you. I open the door… (Joyce Rupp, Open the Door).
Wish you all a grace-filled and fruitful season of Advent dear Sisters!