Churches Please Remain Open

GITANJALI A BERNARD (N York)

  (Note: This is a message sent  by Gitanjali Sudhir, New york. He explains his personal experience in NY in the context Pope Francis' call to Churches to remain open 24 hours a day. The prodigal didn't have to stand waiting and knocking on the doors of his Father's house. If that is not possible, is there any point in building Edappally type of 50 crores monumental churches or even small ones? How can this call of the Pope be applied to churches in Kerala and India? Just think of the situation in the Apastolic times when there were no churches made of brick and mortar!  james kottoor, editor)

Dear Readers: Hello from New York. 

​I must tell you, my  neighborhood is full of churches… As this Big Apple was the landing spot and the launching pad of many early immigrants, churches became historically a point of reference to their worship, education, social services, community organization, early political process and safe living.

Churches are galore.

Catholic Churches.

Lutheran Churches

Episcopal Churches.

Methodist Churches.

Presbyterian Churches.

Pentecostal Churches.

Free Churches.

Churches that speak every language under the sun. 

Small and tall churches.

Conservative and progressive ones.

Traditional and evangelical varieties.

Churches that resemble cults.

And then there are churches that have no specific creeds, dogmas, core beliefs, resembling social clubs.

        If I walk about the neighborhood – say a radius of 2 miles – something strikes me as significant: most churches remain locked.   Iron gates are a common feature.

        More gas stations, pizzerias, laundromats etc. are generally open for service than Temples of the Lord. If I seek to worship HIM, I need to take an appointment, I suppose​. 

        Pope Francis has recently called for a Church to be open house of the Father, welcoming and embracing…in another context. I feel the closed churches of my neighborhood need to listen to

​Pope's call. ​They must open ​themselves to welcome the people…​their people. If people aren't welcome in churches, oh, I remember the story of "the fig tree without fruits" in the Bible. PEACE!