Today’s reflection (Mother’s Day) is based on John 10:1-10.
I found this picture the other day on the Internet and thought it was funny–and so true.
It feels that way sometimes, doesn’t it? To our dismay, God sometimes shuts a door: We don’t get what we want even if we’ve prayed so desperately for it and held our breath every single day hoping against hope that whatever it is we want would be granted. So it takes us a while to accept the fact that it’s not granted. As the picture says, we spend some time banging on that door until we finally realize that it’s really not meant for us.
We bang on God’s door for all sorts of reasons–for a job promotion, for a job, for good grades, for the latest smartphone, for people we love (or we’ve grown obsessed with), for dreams we have built for ourselves… Based on my experience and conversations with others, I think we bang on God’s door the longest for people and dreams. They’re the hardest to let go of, and it takes us the longest time to accept it when they remain beyond our reach, when they stay behind shut doors.
Of course, the problem is, it isn’t usually God who closes that door. He very often leaves that decision to us–to ourselves and the people in our lives. Or sometimes, it’s just the wind that blows the door shut in our face. Even if we don’t completely understand why, God would rather not make those decisions Himself–something to do with His preference for a universe that respects our freedom and the laws of nature. Even if He could, God prefers not to play the doorman in our lives.
But there is one door that He takes full control of, and that’s the door that our Lord is talking about in the Gospel reading today when He speaks of Himself as the gate:
“Whoever enters through me will be saved,
and will come in and go out and find pasture.”
It’s the door to His heart. We hear all sorts, but never believe–not even for a moment–that there will ever be a time or a reason for that door to be shut. The door to God’s heart–like the door to every mother’s heart–is always open.