Ever since I was born, religion -- more specifically Catholicism -- has been a huge aspect of my life. I was baptized at a young age in a Catholic church, and then proceeded to attend a Catholic preschool, followed by a Catholic elementary and junior high school and then ended up at a high school that instilled Christian values into each of its students. Since I am merely the age of 19, I have yet to see a time that the Holy Doors have been opened, since they only open every 25 to 50 years; however, the doors were opened for the first time in my life on November 29, 2015.
According to Catholic Straight Answers, the purpose of The Holy Doors is that, "When the door opens, the obstacles of passage to our Lord are removed. During the Holy Year, we hope and pray that the obstacles of personal weakness, temptation and sin will be removed so that we will have a holy union with our Lord." So, basically, when a person of the Catholic faith walks through the set of double-doors in Saint Peter's Basilica, it's like a guaranteed one-way ticket to the Golden Gates -- or at least, it's supposed to be.,
We Catholics base an awful lot on our faith, and are willing to endure monumental pain and suffering all for the sake of religion such as the infamous flood, plagues and the killing of the firstborn son in Egypt as seen in Exodus 11-12. For a society that is, frankly, as sinful and cold-hearted as we are, why should we be able to hop on a plane and head to Saint Peter's Basilica to walk through a set of doors so that we can be able to sit next to the big guy Himself? Plot twist: we shouldn't. Personally, I think the whole concept of the Holy Doors is a bunch of nonsense, and many people will call me selfish, sacrilegious and tell me that I'm going to Hell; however, why should I go to Hell just because I don't believe in a religious tradition that has been enacted since the 1300s?
I think the Holy Doors are a way to get more people into the church -- not for the sake of religion, but rather due to the fact that more churchgoers means more willing donors, and more willing donors means more money for the church as a whole. Call me what you want, fellow Catholics, but isn't our religion supposed to be based upon the fact that Jesus dies on the cross for our sins, and when we sin we must be completely and utterly repentant and go through a process of confession, church and communion to get back in God's good graces?
The Pope seems to be too indulgent with his indulgences lately, and I believe the re-opening of the Holy Doors at not one, but multiple locations across the globe, is one of them. All respect to his Holiness, but he seems to be making the concept of religious pilgrimage, repentance, sacrifice and overall effort in religion obsolete -- which is the last thing we need in a society that has turned away from God and instead turned to hatred and wickedness.
