HE thought it would be a peaceful job.
A quiet post in a church car park, raising and lowering a boom gate for parishioners attending Sunday Mass.
The hum of engines, the chirping of birds and the occasional “thank you”—that’s what he expected when he took the job.
But after just two months, he quit.
Not because of low pay or long hours.
He walked away because of something that cut deeper than any of that – the harsh words, angry gestures, abuse and rude treatment—often from people who had just walked out of Mass.
They had just received Jesus. But when they got to the gate, it’s like they forgot Him.
This story stayed with me because it reveals something many of us don’t want to admit: it’s possible to sit through a holy hour, receive the Eucharist and then walk out unchanged.
Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34). He did not say, “Love when it’s convenient,” or “Love when traffic is light and the gate opens quickly.”
He said, “Love one another”.
Love is not just what we feel in prayer but what we do when we’re annoyed, tired or running late.
It’s how we speak to the waiter who got our order wrong, the child who forgot their homework again or yes, the car park attendant doing his job on a Sunday morning.
This man stood at the gate not just as an employee, but unwittingly as a kind of witness—a test, perhaps, of whether our faith bore fruit beyond the church doors.
If our worship ends when we exit the sanctuary, have we really worshipped?
Liturgy, in Greek, means “the work of the people”.
And that work doesn’t end with the final hymn.
It continues in the parking lot, in the supermarket, at home and online.
The Eucharist should echo in how we live —especially in the smallest interactions.
So here’s a gentle challenge to all of us, myself included. After you receive the Body of Christ, remember that you are now sent to be the Body of Christ.
Let every encounter, even at a boom gate, speak of the One we just received.
Let us not be a Church that forgets love at the exit.
Let us be known, as Jesus desired, by how we love.
Mitch C.
Brisbane, QLD
