Editor’s Note: Matthew Chicoine interviewed Joan Watson via phone call on April 9th, 2025. Some of the questions have been rearranged and edited to provide the best reader experience without losing any integrity of the answers given.
What drew you specifically to the Holy Door panels as a framework for spiritual reflection?
I have been to Rome about ten times and lived there twice. I studied in my Junior year at Christendom College and a semester when I was a graduate student at Franciscan University. I had been drawn to one panel in particular, it was the Good Shepherd. This panel drew me into the rest of the door. Ave Maria Press reached out to me about doing a book on the Jubilee.
All of my writing and speaking focused on how the Bible should stay with us and change our life. I wanted a book of how the Jubilee can impact our life.
How has your experience as a tour guide in Rome informed your approach to these scriptural reflections?
I wasn’t strictly a tour guide, I led a series of pilgrimages. These experiences helped me notice places in Rome where God could use them as conduits of grace. There’s so many things on pilgrimage He can use as doors to grace so why not the Holy Door. And I wanted this book to speak to all people, not just daily Massgoers, about how Scripture can be part of our life.
Of the sixteen panels on the Holy Door, which one resonates most deeply with you personally, and why?
It was interesting to pray with all of them. Each panel spoke to me differently. Besides the Good Shepherd, probably the panel of the Good Father (in the Prodigal Son story) reminded me to focus on the Father.
Some of the panels are unique and some aren’t as unique, but they are still good reminders like the Prodigal Son to come home to the Father.
How might readers who cannot physically visit St. Peter’s Basilica experience the spiritual significance of crossing a threshold during this Year of Hope?
So that was one of the reasons I wrote the book. Everyone is called to celebrate the Jubilee whether they can go to Rome or not. The world gives us so many reasons to despair even within the Church so many are voices of doom and that the world is ending. Regardless of what the pope or the president or what the stock market does, Jesus is our Savior.
The book connects ancient biblical narratives with our modern spiritual lives. What surprised you most about these connections while writing?
I think the theme that I wanted to bring out is that there’s nothing new under the sun. The Bible is active and not dead. Sometimes we think we have discovered something new or are in “unique times”. But the Scriptures speak to our time and what we need.
Many Catholics may be unfamiliar with the tradition of the Holy Door. What would you like them to understand about its significance in our faith?
I love the quote (JPII- the door is Christ). The door is an outward manifestation of our life. This door is an expression that we are going to start again. That our pilgrimage is just beginning when we go through. What door do you need to open to Christ?
Outside the Jubilee Year the door is closed, what door have you closed to God? Maybe during this Jubilee Year do you need to tear down and open yourself up to Christ?
Where can the audience find more of your work?
My website is joanwatson.faith. This can link to my YouTube channel and my other work.
“It is Christ who is the true ‘Holy Door’; it is he who makes it possible for us to enter the Father’s house and who introduces us into the intimacy of the divine life.”
– Pope St. John Paul II (6 January 2001)
About Joan:
Joan Watson is a Catholic speaker and author who loves to make Scripture, theology, liturgy, and history accessible and applicable. With degrees from Christendom College and Franciscan University of Steubenville, she has worked for the Church and various religious apostolates for almost 20 years. She is currently the Pilgrim Formation Manager at Verso Ministries. In addition to hosting two podcasts, she is the Associate Editor of Integrated Catholic Life, where she writes weekly. Propelled by Luke 12:48, she is passionate about helping others encounter Christ and enter into friendship with Him through the daily circumstances of life. Her first book, Opening the Holy Door: Hope-Filled Reflections from St. Peter’s Basilica is available from Ave Maria Press.
