Cardinal Vicar of Rome opens Holy Door of Saint John Lateran Basilica

By Antonella Palermo

Presiding at the Sunday Mass on the Feast of the Holy Family, Cardinal Baldo Reina recalled how pilgrims come here to free themselves of their burdens and those the world places upon them. The Cardinal is Pope Francis' Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome who opened the Holy Door of his Cathedral, the Papal Basilica of St. John Lateran, a celebration marking the beginning of the jubilee year in all dioceses.

The mayor of Rome also attended the celebration, having inaugurated the square in front of the Basilica and the area facing the Holy Staircase, which now shines again thanks to the repaving work with large patches of grass and round fountains with water jets and mist. Groups of religious, mothers and their children, young families, the faithful, students, and tourists from various parts of the world were in attendance, reflecting the vibrancy, joys, and concerns for our world and hopes for it.

“It’s a great honor to be here,” a woman accompanying her mother stated. A young girl expressed the spirit of all those who wished to be here but could not. “It’s crucial to be here, to change our life, because we are called to holiness,” says a religious from Mexico. “It’s important for us because without God, we can’t do anything,” said a New York couple with four children. “May the Lord give us hope and help us bring His word to the people,” said a woman from northern Italy.

In communion with the Pope at his cathedral

Around three thousand faithful attended the celebration in the Basilica, while many others remained outside to follow it live. The prayer pronounced by Cardinal Reina in opening the Holy Door asked that all who pass through it be accompanied with God's grace: "as a flock that gathers in the one sheepfold, may they live fruitfully this jubilee year." In silence, the bronze door of the Holy Door was opened with a pause for prayer, and then the bells rang out in the "mother of all churches" to the notes of the Jubilee hymn. In communion with Pope Francis, in his Cathedral, the faithful were invited to join in prayer together with the assurance of his spiritual support and joy. 

Cardinal Reina, Vicar of the Diocese of Rome, during the Mass at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Closeness to those suffering

In his homily, Cardinal Reina remembered especially "those who feel distant and unworthy" and to those who carry "the weight of deep bitterness" in their hearts. He recalled the sick, prisoners, those weighed down with pain, loneliness, poverty, and difficulties. He offered words of encouragement, saying let no one feel abandoned "due to discouragement or lack of meaning," who have lost hope or have stopped seeking the Father’s embrace. And "in this world torn by wars, discord, and inequalities, let us open our embrace to everyone."

Prayer for families in difficulty

By "providential coincidence" he noted today marks the Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, "model of every domestic community and a mirror of the Trinitarian communion," inviting everyone to recognize themselves as part of God’s family, called to grow in unity and mutual charity. He remembered in his prayers especially those families in difficulty and suffering. In one of the prayer intentions during the Mass, a specific request remembered families in poverty: "may they be at the center of the attention of civil leaders and receive the necessary support for a more dignified future."

A moment during the opening of the Holy Door at the Basilica of Saint John Lateran

Welcoming God in our hearts and homes

Cardinal Reina noted that "the Holy Door we crossed evokes the daily gesture we make when crossing the threshold of our homes. This door, now wide open, has introduced us not only to the house of the Lord but to the very depths of His heart." And in the prayer for families before the Eucharistic liturgy, there was an invocation to the Spirit to guide the actions of spouses, so that the human and Christian growth of children may find support in the family, and that love, consecrated by the bond of marriage, may prove stronger than any weakness and crisis. In his homily he concluded that as we cross over the threshold of the doors of our own homes, we try “to bring God into our families, into our daily relationships, into our relationship with children, into marital bonds, in the attention and care of the elderly.”

The gift of being children of God

Cardinal Reina in his homily also drew extensively from the Parable of the Prodigal Son and how it calls us to rediscover what it means to live as children of God and highlights how distorted our human perception of God’s fatherhood can often be. The relationship the Lord wants to establish is one in which "being a child is not a condition that is earned or deserved, but a gift."

The open arms of the Father are the Holy Door

Cardina Reina underscored that the Father's open arms, without reservations, full of tenderness, compassion, and "unshakable hope" are able to restore our dignity. Again, in light of the story of the two sons the Parable of the Prodigal Son, he observedwith great consolation: "Those open arms are the Holy Door. It doesn’t matter how far we have gone astray, it doesn’t matter what we have done, wasted, or ruined. The moment we decide to return to God, we will never find a closed door, but an embrace that welcomes and blesses us."

He continued: "From those open arms, we learn to be Church, to become its sacrament, the family of the God who liberates our freedom towards good." Therefore, he encouraged everyone to pass through the Holy Door with trust, to savour and contemplate the goodness of the Lord, to experience His joy, and to become "tireless sowers of hope and builders of fraternity" in our world.