How many horror films begin with someone left alone on a deserted island or locked inside a room while someone creepy lurks in the dark?
One example that comes to mind is Buffalo Bill in “Silence of the Lambs.” Do you remember that scene when he turns on his night vision goggles and pursues Clarice in his basement? Chilling.
Such movies play on a fear we all have – that fear of insecurity, of doors being closed, of not knowing where to go next or how to get out.
It’s a fear that plays itself out in our lives all the time.
For example, some of us may have just gotten a pink slip at work – a door closed. Maybe an important relationship just ended– a door closed. Or maybe we didn’t get in to our college of choice – a door closed.
It’s times like this when we can feel lost, unsure of what to do next.
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Think of the disciples in today’s Gospel.
They have locked themselves inside a room in Jerusalem out of fear of being caught. They just cannot move beyond the idea that Jesus is gone, and their futures – their hopes and dreams – have been buried with him.
Every door seems closed. There is nowhere to go from here.
But all of a sudden, Jesus appears to them inside that locked upper room, saying, “Peace be with you.” … In other words, do not be afraid. Take a deep breath. God has a plan.
Jesus wants them to walk through the door in front of them, a door that leads into the streets of Jerusalem, where they must face their peers and preach the Good News.
This isn’t the door the disciples wanted to be opened, nor is it the door they expected, but they know that God is with them. So they take it.
This is why we hear Peter preaching in our first reading about Jesus being raised from the dead, because Peter has moved out of that upper room into the streets of Jerusalem, where he knows that God is with him.
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This is one of the most important lessons the disciples learn from the Risen Jesus: that when one door closes, another one opens.
On Good Friday, a door was closed. Jesus was buried. And the disciples’ future was buried with him. But on Easter Sunday, another door was opened. Jesus was raised from the dead.
Thus whenever the disciples seem to hit a wall, they must turn to Jesus and ask him to open another door.
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How many of us need a door to be opened, a way out?
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Keep in mind that the door which God opens may not be the one we want to walk through. But take a deep breath. God has a plan.
Are we open to an adventure with Jesus? Like Peter and the other disciples, will we follow Jesus wherever he leads us?
To our young people, that may mean a door open to priesthood or religious life! Will you follow Jesus if he opens that door for you? Or are you making your own plans without asking God what he wants for your life?
Similarly, to all of us gathered here: Do we ask Jesus to open doors for us, or do we try to manage life on our own?
Jesus stands ready to guide us if we’ll let him, which works out better for everyone in the end.
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Remember what happened to the disciples. Little did they know that by walking through that door into the streets of Jerusalem, they would change the world.
Jesus opened doors through them from Jerusalem to Athens to Rome, and even now into Garfield.
So the next chapter begins.
Think about what God can do through us. When the next door opens, are we willing to walk it? If so, then we will never find ourselves trapped, as God is with us and he has a plan for our lives.