Good Fences Don't Make Good Neighbors
Summary of a Fr. Gerry Creedon homily from Palm Sunday, April
23, 2006
"When
the doors were locked, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst
and said to them, 'peace be with you." John 20
I DISCOVERED LAST WEEK, having been in residence
at St Charles for almost ten years, that the locks on my bedroom door do not
work. My comfort with open doors is no virtue; it probably comes from growing
up with 13 other siblings. I remember being assigned with a pastor who spent
a lot of his energy worrying about closing all the doors I left unlocked.
Open doors suggest hospitality, locked doors security. We need to find a balance.
There was a time when visitors returned from Germany with stones from the Berlin
Wall. Destroying walls was a sign of a new era of freedom. Now we see walls
erected between Israeli and Palestinian. Congress is discussing a long fence
to our southern border to protect against illegal immigration.
Pope John Paul has written a pastoral on this topic that needs to frame a Catholic
perspective on the hotly disputed immigration issue. (Refer to nearby links.)
A comprehensive approach advocates for more than fences to settle our problems
with our neighbors.
The Easter experience was a movement from fear to courage. The apostles had
run away from Calvary and were huddled in apprehension. Jesus came through the
walls to bring his spirit. The Spirit would send them out all over the Greek
and Roman worlds to spread the word to the ends of their earth.
Our parish witnesses to this spirit of outreach in a polarized nation. May
our age of security never seal us off from the invasive power of Christ's spirit.
