On the evening of that same day, the first day of the week,
the doors of the house where the disciples had gathered were locked because of their fear of the Jewish authorities, Jesus then came and stood in their midst
and said to them, “Peace be with you.”
BREAKING AND ENTERING
In the evening when the disciples meet,
frightened behind locked doors;
You come with words of peace.
For plots have failed, the cruelty of the world has come to nothing,
betrayal and denial have not prevailed.
Break-in and enter, “Thief in the Night” Messiah,
into rooms where politicians meet,
into board rooms where executives plan,
into court rooms where lawyers debate,
Come, Jesus, with words of peace.
Into hospital rooms where people are worrying,
into prison cells where the guilty and the innocent wait;
into homes where people struggle to make ends meet,
Come, Jesus, with words of peace.
Into lives of those for whom we care and worry…
Despite the strong and solid doors we lock
to protect ourselves and our loved ones,
to shut out the world
Come, Jesus, with words of peace.
Renew us in the power of your Spirit
That with you we may open doors and open lives;
Renew us in the power of your Spirit;
Come, Jesus, with words of peace.
May we have life in your name
and go wherever you send us
in Jesus’ name. Amen.
A DOOR TO DISCOVERY (inspired by John 20: 24-29)
How strangely comforting, Lord,
That so many of your servants
Have doubted you.
So, if I cannot always see the sense of your Word;
If I do not always feel confident about my faith;
If I wonder where your love is
In the face of pain and death;
I am not the first.
A great company of saints and martyrs
Has felt this way before me.
Now, in your presence,
They see face to face
And know as they are known.
Teach me, like them,
Not so much to fear doubt
As to see it
As a sign of the mystery of life
And a door to discovery.
— from More than Words, copyright Saint Andrew Press 2008.
"Peace be with you," Jesus says to us in this room.
No doubt or fear can lock God out of our lives."
PRAYER: - OUR LADY WHO BRINGS DOWN WALLS
Most Holy Mother of God, we pray with you
as mother of the Church, mother of all Christians who suffer.
We beg you, through your ardent intercession, to bring down this wall,
the walls of our hearts, and all the walls that generate hatred, violence,
fear, and indifference between people and between nations.
You who crushed the ancient Serpent by your
"Let it be to me according to Your Word",
gather and protect us from all evil and open forever in our lives the gate of Hope.
Bring to birth in us and in our world the civilization of Love
that sprang forth from the Cross and Resurrection of your divine Son,
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns forever. Amen.
