I sit down to write this column having just packed my case to set off on the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Rome. We are going, of course, to take part in the Jubilee Year as “pilgrims of hope”. We hope to be able to celebrate Mass in some of the “holy” places in Rome and to join in the Audience in St Peter’s Square with Pope Leo XIV on Wednesday.
Part of the spiritual “must” during a visit to Rome during a Holy Year is to pass through the Holy Doors. At each of the major basilicas (St Peter, St John Lateran, St Mary Major and St Paul outside the Walls) we will pass through the Jubilee Doors.
Why a door? What’s all the fuss about? My grandmother used to shout out when one of us had left the door open – “put th’wood in th’oil!” Well, some doors might just be a piece of wood, but they also have a significance. Doors can open before you; others can slam in your face. Some doors are left ajar so that you can push, and they will swing wide. Other doors are meant to be either a menacing or an impenetrable obstacle so that no one may pass or dare to knock. Some doors literally say, “Come in; Welcome”. There are doors which intimate excitement, and point to a future. When you leave by some doors you know you will never pass through it again. There are other doors which demand awe, fear and respect. But in the end, a door either lets you in or lets you out.
There are many references in the Scriptures to doors or gates. Adam and Eve are shown unceremoniously out of the Garden of Eden and the entrance is barred to them by an angel with a flaming sword (Gen 3.23-24). The animals went two by two into Noah’s Ark in order to be saved from the rising waters of destruction (Gen 7.15-16). In the Song of Solomon, the beloved comes tapping on the door of his loved one so that they can be together (Song of Songs 5.2).
Jesus reminds his disciples to enter through the narrow gate which leads to life (Matt 7.13-14). He tells them to knock, and the door will be opened (Luke 11.9). And he also refers to himself as the gate or the door; “he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” (Jn 10 1-2)
So, a door is a way in and a way out. And in this particular instance of the Holy Year and the Holy Doors, the imagery points us towards recognising that Jesus is really the Door, he is the way in and the way out. Jesus is the way to Hope, a Hope that does not disappoint.
Please be assured of our prayers for you all as we continue to journey on in hope through this Holy Year of Jubilee.

In blessed hope,

+Terry