Someone At the Door of Our Hearts

 The Word of the Day (Monday, June 3)

The word of the day is “open.” Sometimes, in our excitement and distress, we fail to focus on the most crucial thing: our relationship with Jesus Christ. Today, as we delve into Acts 12:12-17, we encounter Peter, who has been miraculously freed from prison. He is knocking on the door of the house where the believers had gathered. But the maid is so excited that she forgets to open the door, and the believers debate whether to believe her announcement that Peter is at the gate waiting to enter.

Today, we focus on the maidservant (Strong’s #3814), who answers the door and recognizes Peter’s voice but forgets something—the most crucial thing. Rhoda’s forgetfulness suggests that we consider how we can also forget the one thing needed in our spiritual lives.

We might take this humorous story as a metaphor for our spiritual lives. There is One who stands at our door and knocks as Peter did before Mary’s house. It is the Crucified and Risen Christ. The Lord states in Revelation, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and he with Me” (OSB Revelation 3:20).

However, we can keep the Lord standing at the door. We can ignore His persistent knocking or be so excited that He is at our doorstep that we do not invite Him inside.

Note that it is not only preoccupations that can keep us from opening the door of our hearts to Him.  Things, even sacred and holy things, can keep us from opening the door of our hearts to Him. The beauty and grandeur of ritual may overwhelm us. The stirring of corporate praise may overcome us. The eloquence of a preacher may impress us.

Unless these spiritual experiences lead us into a closer relationship with Christ, they are distractions from the most important thing. They make us forget who is standing at the gate of our hearts, wanting to stay with us and abide in us just as we abide in Him. 

As the story of Elijah on Mt. Horeb teaches, it takes silence to hear the voice of God. It takes stillness to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus. The  Psalmist said, “Be still and know that I am God” (OSB Psalm 46:10). In the same vein, St. Isaac the Syrian said, “The highest form of prayer is to stand silently in awe before God.” Again, he said, “Love silence diligently, for in it your soul will find life.” Once again, St. Isaac said, “Speech is the organ of this present world. Silence is the mystery of the world to come.”