Beyond the Closing Door

St. Francis Church  North Adams, MA     September 2016

Please be present with me as I reflect upon the meaning of this sacred door of Saint Francis Church in North Adams.

This is a significant doorway of entrance into the mystery of God.

 

Through this door I was carried to received the sacrament of  Baptism. Through this door I processed with many schoolmates, as Sisters of St. Joseph prepared us for Penance, First Communion and Confirmation. This is the place where many became graduates of St. Joseph's Grammar and High Schools.

Daily Mass, October and May devotions, Novenas, Holy Hours, Stations of the Cross, and choir rehearsals, in this sacred space, nurtured the faith life of so many. Weddings, funerals, special services to pray for peace and offer solace united us as a community of faith.  I recall especially gathering to pray for the victims of the plane crash over Lockerbie, Scotland where our Wendy Lincoln was among the students from Syracuse University on board.

The steeple, that for years was part of an amazing skyline among the hills of North Adams, and whose bells rang out the angelus as a call to prayer, now lies in rubble among the bricks to the side.

A lamp post stands as a sentry, honoring the memory of each individual who ever passed by this holy place, some crossing their foreheads, others tipping their hats.

Flowering plants and greenery remind us that life continues to go on.

The open blue sky frames the memory and an era that is passing.  It speaks to me of Life Beyond the Door. The faith in our living God is part of us forever. We carry it wherever we go. Our faith was never meant to be tied to a building. We are asked to arise and move on to a beautiful new horizon.

I am prompted to pray with the words of Dag Hammarskjold:

 "For all that has been - Thanks. For all that shall be - Yes.

 

 

I thank my friend, Elaine Mattern of North Adams, for posting this photo on her Face Book page with the caption, "No, this is not the Alamo.".