the doors
"Open the door." —Matthew 25:11<br>"The door was barred." —Matthew 25:10
Jesus knocks on the door of our lives. He says: "Here I stand, knocking at the door. If anyone hears Me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with him, and he with Me" (Rv 3:20). Jesus wants us to allow Him to know us personally. He wants us even to let Him take over our lives so that we would truthfully and practically say: "It is no longer I that live but Christ Who lives in me" (Gal 2:20, our transl).
There is another door. It is not the door of our lives but the door of eternal life. When Jesus comes for us at our death or at His final coming, He wants to take us through this door into eternal life, love, and happiness with Him. However, we will be able to go through this door only if we have let Jesus know us personally, if we have accepted Him as the Lord of our lives. Otherwise, the door will be barred, and we will hear the eerie, horrifying words of Jesus: "I tell you, I do not know you" (Mt 25:12). Those who are not known by Jesus and do not know Him will be left outside in the darkness of hell where they will wail and grind their teeth forever (Mt 25:30).
Open the door of your life to Jesus. He will later open the door of eternal life to you.
Prayer: Jesus, Good Shepherd (Jn 10:11) and the Sheepgate (Jn 10:7), may I know You as You and the Father know Each Other (Jn 10:14-15).
Promise: "The Lord Himself will come down from heaven at the word of command, at the sound of the archangel's voice and God's trumpet; and those who have died in Christ will rise first. Then we, the living, the survivors, will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." —1 Thes 4:16-17
Praise: Praise Jesus, the Way, the Truth, the Resurrection, and the Life! (Jn 14:6; Jn 11:25)
Nihil Obstat: Reverend Ralph J. Lawrence, April 10, 1999
Imprimatur: †Most Reverend Carl K. Moeddel, Vicar General and Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, April 16, 1999