"Listen! I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me" (Rev. 3:20).

How easy and natural it is to pass through a doorway. We rarely notice the movement at all. There are exceptions, of course-when our arms are full of groceries or we've forgotten our key. But normally we breeze through these helpful openings oblivious to what we are doing. Yet doors are an integral part of life. If we are mobile and active, never a day goes by without movement through numerous doorways. Think of all the physical doors in your day, particularly the ones that you have passed in and out of since you awoke this morning. Undoubtedly there are many.

Doors are essential and beneficial. They are used for opening and closing. Doors provide a passageway to where we want to go. They give us privacy and offer protection from unwanted elements. They help to keep us safe and secure. Doors are also instruments of power. They have the ability to shut out or admit in. They can serve as strong barriers or as welcoming stations. Doors are even used to help us define where we are physically: indoors, outdoors, next door, at the front door or back door.

On Christmas Eve 1999, Pope John Paul II ushered in the Jubilee Year by ceremoniously unsealing the great Holy Year Door of St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. In a similar manner, Catholic churches throughout the world opened their doors with special ritual and prayer to proclaim a year of justice and revitalization of faith. As we come to the close of this significant year, it seems appropriate that "the door" again becomes a focal point. The great Holy Door will be resealed, but we cannot seal the doors of our hearts. They must remain open so that we are always ready to welcome the Christ who continues to come to us.

Advent is an appropriate time to recommit ourselves to this openness. Advent-from the Latin adventus-means "to come." The Holy One came in human form as a wondrous being, blessing our planet with his presence 2,000 years ago. He described himself as a "door" to the sacred (John 10:7). Through his humanity he became a passageway for communion with the Holy One.

Advent is a season of opening doors. It is a time to deepen and strengthen our relationship with the Holy One so that more of the divine presence within us shines through and offers a welcome to others. It is a season to open the doors of our hearts so that we can both give and receive this love. One of the ways we can do this is by seeing ourselves and others as doors through which the divine presence continually seeks an entrance.

Someone's knocking
Each of us has a sacred door. It is the place where we meet the Holy One in our midst. In Warner Sallman's artistic portrayal of Revelation 3:20, Jesus stands at a door and knocks. It is the door of the human heart to which Jesus comes and awaits an invitation to enter. In his painting, Sallman knowingly omitted the doorknob on the outside, recognizing that the door to the heart can only be opened from within. The knobless door indicates that we hold the power of welcome or refusal. It is our choice.

The movement of greeting someone at a physical door is much like the process of spiritual growth. We must first be aware that there is someone actually at the door. Sometimes there is a gentle rap, at other times a very loud knocking or a melodious doorbell. Attentiveness and listening are essential to the spiritual life. Advent is a wake-up call, alerting us and challenging us to become more aware of the divine visitor who faithfully knocks at the door of our lives.

The metaphor of the door in scripture encourages this alertness and wakefulness. In Proverbs, Holy Wisdom speaks: "Happy is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors" (Prov. 8:34). In similar fashion the lover describes attentiveness to the Beloved: "I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking. 'Open to me...'" (Song of Sol. 5:2).

Readiness to open the door is essential for a meeting to occur. Attentiveness to the divine presence is a must. This is the reason why busyness can be destructive to our Advent experience. Being busy in itself is not a bad thing, but it is detrimental when it keeps us from being ready to open the door or from recognizing that someone awaits our welcome.

Once we are aware of someone waiting at the door we must decide whether to open it. How do we respond when someone knocks or rings the doorbell of our house? Our response can be much the same as when someone stands at the door of our heart. At first we may be cautious, peering carefully to see who it is. We might feel irritated when the knock comes, believing we have no time to answer the door or doubtful that our house is clean or beautiful enough for a welcome. We may be guarded and hesitant with fear, or curt and abrupt, taking care of business quickly. We might even ignore the sound at the door completely.

On the other hand we could be waiting for someone we know and appreciate, like the watchful servants in the parable "who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks" (Luke 12:35). In this case we might be elated when we see who is there, knowing the one at the door is a friendly neighbor or a loved one who will ease our loneliness and anxiety or gift us with the goodness of his or her presence. ("The most exquisite fruits are at our doors." Song of Sol. 7:14.)

How we welcome other human beings into our lives is how we welcome Emmanuel, God-With-Us (Matt. 25:31-46). In my travels I spend a lot of time in other peoples' space. I notice how I am met at the door of their homes. Usually there is only glad welcome and generous hospitality extended to me.

But sometimes people welcome me with their words and not with their hearts. It is obvious that I am an interruption or an intrusion into their well-ordered lives. I sense their anxiety and concern about doing things right or "looking good." They apologize profusely about their unclean or crowded space or simply usher me to my room without the warmth of welcome.

Please disturb
Hospitality is at the heart of the Advent season. In her book The Reed of God (Sheed & Ward), Caryll Houselander describes the Annunciation as the Spirit tapping on the door of Mary's heart: "It was as if the human race were a little dark house, without light or air, locked and latched. . . . But one day a girl opened the door. Seas of light swept through it, and the light remained in it; and in that little house a Child was born."

Mary was a beautiful, faith-filled door. When the divine visitor tapped on her heart she was at first hesitant and afraid. Full of questions and concerns, she paused for clarity before she opened the door. But she did not let her hesitations keep her from extending a welcome to love. With her "Yes, you may come in," Mary created a hospitable space within herself. She leaned on her faith for support as she opened the door wide to the Spirit. Because of her hospitality to divine mystery, Jesus entered this world through the door of her welcoming womb (Luke 1:26-38).

Mary is every person who has stood at the door and felt fearful of the future with its unknown direction. She is every person who has experienced self-doubt or has had a totally unexpected event upset them. She is each of us struggling with our own fears and hesitations when the Holy One taps on the door of our life asking for an entrance.