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The importance of open door in a catholic church...


NadaTeTurbe

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Was deeply moved by this testimony by Elisabeth Esther. She's a woman raised in a fundamentalist cult, who turned evangelical, and then converted catholic. I hope to read her book one day. 

http://www.elizabethesther.com/archives/2014/08/am-i-my-brothers-gatekeeper.html 

One afternoon, six years ago, I drove by my local, Catholic Church "just to see." I didn't stop. I kept driving. A few days later, I circled the neighborhood several times. Then one day, I daringly pulled into the parking lot. I was terribly curious and terribly terrified.

I remember there was a banner hanging on one of the light poles. Welcome, it said. Still, I wasn't sure. Did welcome really mean welcome? So, I hunkered deep in my car and Googled the church office phone number. With shaking fingers, I dialed. A wobbly but matter-of-fact old lady voice answered: "Hello! St. Cecilia's!"

I took a deep breath. "Um. Hi. I was just. Well, I was wondering if non-Catholics can go inside your church?"

"Why, of course, honey! Go right on in and pray!"

"Oh! You mean. RIGHT NOW? Like, the church is open right now?"

She cackled, deliciously. "Why of course it's open! It's only 2 o'clock in the afternoon!"

That was my first "real" time inside a Catholic church (read about what I saw that day on page 179 of my book). What I didn't elaborate on in my book but what I realize now is that this discovery-- Catholic churches are open almost all the time--was huge for me.

When I was a Protestant, church doors were locked up Monday-Saturday. We only opened for meetings. But in Catholic churches, the doors were always openThis became so meaningful for me, symbolically and practically.

Practically speaking, as a mother of five young children it was hard for me to get to church. I so appreciated that I could dash in for ten minutes between bottles and naps and laundry. I didn't have to dress up or put on my Happy Church Lady face (back then, all I had was an Exhausted-Sleep-Deprived-Mommy-Face). Best of all, I didn't have to wait until Wednesday night Bible Study at 7:30pm. Whether I went at 6:30am or 2:22pm, the Catholic Church was always open.

Symbolically, this openness demonstrated a posture of hospitality. The church didn't expect me to come to God on its timeline. It just unlocked its doors, held Mass for whoever showed up and then stayed open for prayer and meditation.

This always openness seems like a small thing to me now. Of course the Catholic Church is open!But I need to remind myself that this openness, this posture and practice of generous hospitality was a huge and vital part of my first, real-life encounter with Catholic practice. Without that practice of openness, I might have never stepped foot into a Catholic church because I wasn't ready to attend an actual Mass. I needed to scope things out first. Feel my way into it. Read my way in. Listen my way in. Watch EWTN my way in. :)

Even the process of entering the church was open, slow and careful. It took a whole year of discerning and inquiry. They called it RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). I never felt like the church was trying to sell me something. Or get something from me. The priest never gave a sales pitch about All The Heavenly Prizes You'll Win If You Join Our Church! We talked, instead, about suffering. And struggle. And giving to the poor.

For all the horror stories I'd read about the Catholic church and for all the terrible history I knew, the actual practice of ordinary, everyday Catholics was quiet, unassuming and welcoming. Yes, they had dogma but they weren't dogmaticYes, they were welcoming but it wasn't an Overwhelming-High-Octane-Welcoming-Committee. There weren't any cheesy little coffee mugs given out to newcomers. Nobody got up in my space, shook my hand and demanded to hear my "testimony." We were all just humans together. And that was enough.

True hospitality, I've learned, seeks only to serve. The spiritual practice of hospitality is kind of about invisibility--getting yourself out of the way so others might encounter God. It's not about enforcing codes, rules, stipulations and locking the doors of Heaven until everyone has met our requirements. We're our brother's keeper, not Heaven's gatekeepers.

Jesus has already unlocked the door and flung wide the gates of Heaven. All we need to do is welcome people in

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MarysLittleFlower

I think I kind of get what she means that hospitality is just giving people a chance to experience God. I'm all for being welcoming but sometimes when people exaggerate being welcoming, it makes you FEEL like a 'visitor'. Like if when I first came to a Catholic parish (as a convert also), if I was approached by various people and given a "special mug" like in the article and everyone wanting to shake my hand and get to know my story... I think I'd just feel overwhelmed and singled out as The Visitor Today. If you can just go in and spend time with God, that is much better... as for being welcoming, it can just be something simple that doesn't single you out, for example how a lady once shared her missal with me when I was new. Protestant communities can be very welcoming as many know, but if it's exaggerated it feels artificial. It's not always exaggerated but I mean in the case when it is. I think true hospitality is just treating a person like a human being, like you are, and showing them God's love in a simple way. If something other than this gets emphasized, like "being welcoming to new people", that feels more like a "strategy" to convert them and people sense that... it can distract from the simple act of coming to pray somewhere. At the same time, I don't think it's good to ignore  people as if they're not there or make them feel invisible.

Edited by MarysLittleFlower
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I think I kind of get what she means that hospitality is just giving people a chance to experience God. I'm all for being welcoming but sometimes when people exaggerate being welcoming, it makes you FEEL like a 'visitor'. Like if when I first came to a Catholic parish (as a convert also), if I was approached by various people and given a "special mug" like in the article and everyone wanting to shake my hand and get to know my story... I think I'd just feel overwhelmed and singled out as The Visitor Today. If you can just go in and spend time with God, that is much better... as for being welcoming, it can just be something simple that doesn't single you out, for example how a lady once shared her missal with me when I was new. Protestant communities can be very welcoming as many know, but if it's exaggerated it feels artificial. It's not always exaggerated but I mean in the case when it is. I think true hospitality is just treating a person like a human being, like you are, and showing them God's love in a simple way. If something other than this gets emphasized, like "being welcoming to new people", that feels more like a "strategy" to convert them and people sense that... it can distract from the simple act of coming to pray somewhere. At the same time, I don't think it's good to ignore  people as if they're not there or make them feel invisible.

@maryslittleflower

the point of the article's author is the Church building is open as a welcome, not people being welcoming.  People aren't necessarily needed for the purpose of the church building because of the Eucharist.  In a Protty church, if there are no people, it's absolutely empty.  

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It make me think of a little joke of a bishop... We were speaking about the megachurch in his diocese. It's one of the only megachurch in France. Someone said : 

"You know, a lot of people come to the megachurch. Maybe we should try to imitate them."

The bishop said : "You know the difference between them and us ? They have a marketing plan. We have 2,000 years of history." 

I'm always sad when I see catholic who try to imitate Evangelicals because they have a lot of people in their church. We are catholic. We must protect what is unique to us. 

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MarysLittleFlower

@maryslittleflower

the point of the article's author is the Church building is open as a welcome, not people being welcoming.  People aren't necessarily needed for the purpose of the church building because of the Eucharist.  In a Protty church, if there are no people, it's absolutely empty.  

Oh yea I do agree :) I love it too when churches are open. I just picked a particular sentence of the article and focused on that. I agree the article is about something else. What made me convert was the Eucharist and I love going to church when no one is there just to spend time with Jesus :) 

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MarysLittleFlower

@maryslittleflower

the point of the article's author is the Church building is open as a welcome, not people being welcoming.  People aren't necessarily needed for the purpose of the church building because of the Eucharist.  In a Protty church, if there are no people, it's absolutely empty.  

Oh yea I do agree :) I love it too when churches are open. I just picked a particular sentence of the article and focused on that. I agree the article is about something else. What made me convert was the Eucharist and I love going to church when no one is there just to spend time with Jesus :) 

It make me think of a little joke of a bishop... We were speaking about the megachurch in his diocese. It's one of the only megachurch in France. Someone said : 

"You know, a lot of people come to the megachurch. Maybe we should try to imitate them."

The bishop said : "You know the difference between them and us ? They have a marketing plan. We have 2,000 years of history." 

I'm always sad when I see catholic who try to imitate Evangelicals because they have a lot of people in their church. We are catholic. We must protect what is unique to us. 

also I read in a great spiritual book that what makes the biggest effect in bringing people to the Church is not strategy alone but a strong interior life and holiness :) sometimes this can even work without strategy!

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I don't think all churches keep their doors open all the time anymore. At least in my experience they tend to get locked up. Maybe that's just at nighttime, IDK.

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He is Risen!

The churches around me (KC) are kept locked up but there are 2 or 3 with adoration and you can get in if you have the passcode.  Someone told me once that it was for insurance reasons?  I remember living in NYC and they were pretty much all open.  That's one of my big pet peeves about here.

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I agree 100% with this article, and have had the exact same experience of being over-welcomed as a newcomer at Protestant churches and totally ignored as a newcomer at Catholic churches. The latter also contributed positively to my joining the Church. I just needed to be let alone to work things out with God before someone jumped on me and asked for my address.

I wish more Catholic churches were open 24/7. I sometimes feel like I really need to go to a church at 3 in the morning. Fortunately, where I live, there's a 24/7 Adoration chapel and I have the passcode for the door. But in my last parish, the church was locked at 5 and that was it. I found it really sad and discouraging that we "had" to lock the doors.

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In Adelaide CBD the Cathedral is open, but I don't know of any suburban Catholic Churches that are open during the day - apparently because of vandalism risk.

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AccountDeleted

In Melbourne we seem to have a lot of Catholic churches that are open during the day, and in the city especially we have St Francis' which has Mass probably 5-6 times per day and in between Adoration and Reconciliation are going on, plus there is a side Lady Chapel with tons of candles (I love the smell). The Cathedral in the city is also open all day but it feels more like a tourist spot sometimes with all of these people coming through to take photos.There is a sign not to do it during Mass but well ... tourists.

I recently moved to a new suburb and decided to take a walk around the area. I came across an Anglican church that had a big sign out front stating that the church was open (I didn't know they did this as well), so I went in and had a look around. It was so much like a Catholic church that it reminded me of the Anglican church in Chesterfield, England (the one with the crooked spire) - when I first walked into that church I honestly didn't know if it was Catholic or Anglican and had to ask. High Anglican is so much like Catholic (at least in appearances) that it's really spooky! At the local Anglican church though, I didn't like the crucifix over the altar (sort of weird, modern art) so when I went back on the weekend to attend their book fair, I asked one of the parishioners about it. He told me that it had been commissioned by the rector at the time, who was really into modern art. Apart from that though, they had lovely stained glass windows, candles, etc, and lovely wooden pews. Nicer looking than some of the more modern Catholic churches I have visited.

It is nice though when it is possible for churches to stay open for impromptu prayer. My former landlady, who worked in the city during the week, told me she would often just pop in to St Francis' church for some quiet time and prayer. I was fortunate when I lived a very small country town, where the church was locked during the week, that the priest gave me the key and told me I could go in whenever I wanted. I had the place all to myself and it was so nice. It's sad that some places just can't leave their churches open, either because of vandalism or theft, or just because they are isolated (like my country church). I guess the only option then is  chapels with a security code entry. It's better than nothing.

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I like the idea of security code entry too.  Consulted Google but couldn't find anything at all - probably because Google didn't like my wording.  Any assistance especially re cost (Sth Aust) ?

Edit: Found info on Lockwood Australia - but no costs.

Edited by BarbaraTherese
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AccountDeleted

I like the idea of security code entry too.  Consulted Google but couldn't find anything at all - probably because Google didn't like my wording.  Any assistance especially re cost (Sth Aust) ?

http://www.kas.com.au/products/cat/pin-code-locks 

I think the real cost would be getting someone to install it. But then if a parish wanted to do it, maybe someone in the community knows how- lots of handy type people in Oz.

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