YOUCAT:* “God’s grace is freely bestowed on a person, and it seeks and summons him to respond in complete freedom. Grace does not compel. God’s love wants our free assent.” [CCC 2001-2002, 2022]
A few weeks ago, I participated in my parish’s catechist retreat. Our pastor, Sacred Hearts Father Richard McNally, facilitated the day. The theme was “Open the Door of Faith,” the theme for Catechetical Sunday.
One thing that really stood out for me was an image Father McNally shared with us of Jesus knocking on a door with no doorknob — a door that cannot be opened from the outside, only from the inside. This image reminds us that our hearts are the door, Jesus is outside knocking, and we have the freedom to invite him in.
Grace is God’s free, loving gift to us. We have the freedom to say yes or no, to invite Jesus in or leave him outside.
#YearofFaith Challenge: Open the door; invite Jesus in, share in his Eucharist.
*Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church
Lisa Gomes is the director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry