April 26, 2026.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (John 10, 1-3)
Can you imagine a Christian in love with the message of the Lord but can’t stand Christ? Can you imagine a Franciscan enthusiastic about the message of simplicity and poverty of the saint from Assisi but who can’t accept Saint Francis? It would be absurd, a contradiction. Each spiritual house, the same as each material house, has a door and if you are from that house and not a thief or a bandit, you must go through it. Christ is the door of Christianity and one can’t be a Christian without loving Christ, wanting to follow Christ, worshipping Christ.
Theoretically everyone agrees with this. However, in practice, many construct Christ their way. Helped at times by some theologians who are not in communion with the church or by some priests, selecting and omitting things from the message of Christ that they do not like, with the often repeated excuse of these times that the Lord didn’t say this it is possibly a later attachment, fruit of the interest of Popes in Rome to command, things that they say so off the cuff.
For us, always faithful to Christ and to his Church, as Maria, as Saint Francis, to follow the Lord is not only to go through the door as He the Master, but also through the door of the Church, which is what in each moment of history has helped us discern what God wants. It isn’t to be forgotten that the Church is the Mystical Body of Christ and that we can’t be with the Christ without being with the Church.
Intention: Have a personal relationship with the Lord, who is your shepherd, through prayer. And when you have doubts about a moral norm, accept what the Church says.