On Epiphany Sunday, Father Gregory Mastey, pastor of the Two Rivers Area Catholic Community, invited the faithful to pause and reflect on three different sets of doors that may help shape lives as Catholics.
His message was simple yet profound: the doors we walk through reveal the kind of disciples we are becoming and act as an invitation for each of us to cross into a deeper encounter with Christ.
Each year on Epiphany, Catholics around the world mark their doorways with blessed chalk, writing the year and the initials C + M + B. These letters recall the traditional names of the Magi — Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar — but they also stand for the Latin blessing “Christus Mansionem Benedicat,” or “May Christ bless this home.”
Father Mastey, a longtime proponent of the Epiphany tradition, blessed doorways in his parishes and his home, explaining that this tradition is not superstition or decoration.
“It is a reminder that our homes belong to Christ,” he said.
Father Mastey also used the image of the Holy Doors in Rome, ceremonially opened at the start of a Jubilee Year and closed at its end. These doors, he said, are symbols of God’s mercy. To pass through them is to step into a renewed relationship with Christ, leaving behind the burdens of sin and embracing the freedom of grace.
Father Mastey reminded us that God’s mercy does not close with them. The physical doors may be sealed, but the hope they represent remains wide open.
“Christ himself is the door who never shuts us out,” he said.
Finally, Father Mastey turned to the most important door of all — the door of the human heart. Unlike the Holy Doors in Rome or the wooden doors of our homes, this door can only be opened from the inside. Christ never forces his way in. He knocks, he waits, he invites.
Father Mastey challenged the congregation to consider what doors of the heart remain closed: resentment, fear, old wounds, pride or the reluctance to forgive.
“To open the door of the heart,” he said, “is to let Christ reshape us, to be open to what the Lord has in store for us in the upcoming year.”
As the new calendar year begins, he invites everyone to ask themselves, “What door is Christ inviting me to open?”