My dear parishioners, the door to a house opens inward. The door to the human heart, it seems to me, must open outward. The phrase “reaching out” expresses how human beings are to be with one another. The more one reach out to other human beings, the better off he is. We are more energetic, more positive and more forward looking in the company of others.
 
This is crucial for understanding what makes a relationship with Jesus Christ meaningful. If the door opens, you will have to open it to him. For Our Lord says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” and “if any one hears my voice and opens the door . . . “  [Rev 3:20]  If you don’t reach out to Jesus,  he will not throttle you, but he will leave you with yourself for a very long time. And when Jesus steps over the threshold of your heart, what then? No one opens the door to a guest, someone he knows and likes, without welcoming him and making him feel at home.
 
It’s a great sadness when a person joyfully invites Jesus to dwell in his heart—that is to say his immortal soul—only to forget about him after he enters. You can’t go around shutting interior doors hiding the things you’ve not been honest about, things for which you have not repented, things you’ve not confessed. No deceit between human beings and certainly nor that which is directed against the Lord is justified or praiseworthy.
 
Recall how our Lord said he wants to eat with you and you with him.  [cf. Rev 3:20]  Now we know Our Lord is not speaking about food prepared in a kitchen. Rather, he refers to the challenging relationship shared between himself and everyone who professes to believe in him: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.”  [Jn 14:6]  And again, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me, and to accomplish his work.”  [Jn 4:34]     
 
Accordingly, prepare a great feast for our Lord Jesus, a feast of ardent faith, steadfast hope and virtuous love. And when you enter into conversation with Our Lord in the depths of your heart—we call this prayer—do not do all the talking. Keep your silence so God himself may receive your faith in him and reveal his will for you. It is not mere coincidence that listen is an anagram of silent! Jesus already knows everything about you, including your very thoughts and desires, your joys and anxieties. Nevertheless, don’t hide anything from his searching love. The words God knows! God knows! express very well our Savior’s power to read the human heart.
 
We speak of Jesus’ glory for good reason. Whereas exterior human activity so often is subordinated to human praise, a soul’s interior perfection is illumined by God’s glory much as the sun day by day draws open the beauty of a flower. Open your mind and heart to the glory of Christ! Let God’s radiance shine in every thought and activity of your life. Your every thought, every word, every deed should be a window through which the glory of Christ shines. Thus all persons will know “you are God's temple and God's Spirit dwells in you”.  [1Cor 3:16] 
 
Jesus never knocks at the door with empty hands. He is always bearing the gifts of his merciful love, “a spring of water welling up to eternal life”.  [Jn 4:14]  When you open the door to your soul to invite him in, what gifts might you expect? He will help you to see things as they really are, light to keep your feet from stumbling, and his angels to strengthen your spirit and guide you.
 
When our Lord Jesus Christ dwells in your heart, he will not fail to bring you the gift of his life-changing mercy, the pardon you’ve always desired. Then he will bestow on you and your household the gift of his wisdom which brings surpassing peace to the human heart. If you walk in peace borne of divine wisdom—”Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you”  [Jn 14:27]—then and only then will Christ reveal his justice—pouring out before you all the good your loving heavenly Father desires for you. Sincerely in the hearts of Jesus and Mary. Your pastor, Reverend Richard Barker.