Welcome Home – Open Door, Open Hearts

Written by Cherie Donze on Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

Years ago, in another time and place, I found myself suddenly cast into a drama that rattled my being.  I was blindsided and naïve.  People and circumstances were not what I had believed them to be.  Before personal cell phones, text messages and emails, it was not possible for me to use the shared landline phone to call home to talk to my parents privately for wisdom, and they lived hundreds of miles away.  I did what for me was surely shocking to them:  I called my dad just as he arrived at work, told him I was flying home that day for a couple days, and asked him to pick me up at the airport.  I offered no explanation and he asked for none.

Dad picked me up at the airport in the middle of his work day, drove me the 25 miles home, allowing me my silence.  Mom was shocked to see us both, as he hadn’t called to warn her.  She hugged me but asked no questions.  Exhausted from a draining and sleepless 24 hours I went straight to my old room to bed.  Dad woke me for dinner, and I slid into my usual seat.  Both brothers, living at home at the time, were wide eyed.  They hadn’t been filled in about my unexpected appearance.  Some part of me thought the whole thing rather like a bad movie.

I had gone home to where I felt safe, where people were who I could trust, where I knew I was loved, where I could find my center.   As I found my voice they listened and loved.  I marveled then, and have ever since, about the incredible grace that my family gifted me in those hours.  Mom and Dad reminded me that God is always with me.  While it would take some time, some tough choices, some more grace, returning home to that space with open doors and open hearts, I could feel peace returning.

I feel grace and peace when I am in God’s home, when I am welcomed with a smile by Eucharistic ministers I see Jesus, when I sit in silence in His presence or am singing with His family.  It is a safe and loving space, a space of peace and of grace.  It is comfortable, there are smiles and hugs, and it is my spiritual home.  I feel centered.  God’s door is always open for each of us, and His heart is big enough to love us, no strings attached.  There is a place at the table for Sunday dinner for everyone in God’s home.

Questions for Reflection / Suggestion for Prayer:
Where do you feel at home?  Where do you feel peace?
Do you trust that God your father and Jesus your brother will welcome you with no questions asked?
Be aware of those times you feel at home, at peace, and open your heart to the loving presence of God.  Be encouraged that His home is your home.

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Cherie Donze
Cherie joined St. Mary as a grad student in 1981 and has been happily at home here ever since.  Her three children were all baptized and confirmed here.  Over the years she has served on the Handicap Accessibility Committee, as Bread Baking Coordinator, on the Family Ministry Committee, co-founded First Sunday, Sacramental Prep, and Confirmation Programs, and participated in the same Small Church Community (originally started through the Christian Family Movement, or CFM), meeting monthly, since January 2000.  One of her favorite things is St. Mary’s Feast Day of Service.  She’s tickled that many of the CFM kids (most now young adults themselves) refer to the adults as their CFM aunts and uncles.
Email: cdonzearchitect@gmail.com