Saturday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Mark 10:13-16
Opening the Doors of Faith: A Call to Welcome All

Jesus rebuked His disciples for preventing children from coming to Him, not because they were unkind, but because they thought they were protecting Jesus from the ‘nuisance’ and disturbances. They had done the same in Jericho, silencing the blind man. They had unknowingly set up barriers between Jesus and those seeking Him. This same mistake happens today when Christians, instead of facilitating encounters with Christ, create obstacles.

How often do we see people approaching the Church with hope, only to be met with bureaucracy and coldness? An engaged couple excited for their marriage is given a price list instead of a blessing. A young mother seeking Baptism for her child is turned away because she is unmarried. These situations reveal a dangerous tendency: controlling faith rather than fostering it. In doing so, we create an “eighth sacrament”—the sacrament of exclusion—something Jesus never intended.

Christ’s invitation is for all. He did not come for the perfect, but for the broken, the seeking, the struggling. His Church must be a place of welcome, a home for all who long for God’s love. If we truly want to be Pilgrims of Hope in this Jubilee Year, we must open wide the doors of faith. Let us choose compassion over judgment, encouragement over rejection, and accompaniment over bureaucracy.

Lord, grant us hearts that welcome, hands that serve, and words that heal. May every person who approaches the Church find open doors leading to Your infinite love. Amen!

© Claretian Publications, Hong Kong, China
Cum Approbatione Ecclesiastica 2025