We are in that time where the Church the wounds of Christ. The prophecy of the Suffering Servant asserts that, “By His wounds we are healed” (Is 53:5). This explains why the devotion to the wounds of our Saviour is so sacred and important. The healing of our minds, bodies, emotions, relationships, and of our families, and the world, is contained right here. Specially, the healing of our relationship with God is effected as we look into His wounds, just as it was with the apostle St Thomas.
As we transition from Lent to Easter, through the intense days of the Holy Week, we see a kaleidoscopic change in the revelation of the wounds of Christ.
On Good Friday, the wounds of Christ are fresh. The innocent blood of the Lamb of God soaks the earth. “One soldier thrust his lance into His side, and immediately blood and water flowed out” (Jn 19:34). His wounds are the gateway for the saving love of God to be poured out on the dry earth.
Calvary proves the extent of God’s love: “God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). At Calvary we recognize where our worth lies: “The Son of God who has loved me and given himself up for me” (Gal 2:20). Calvary is where human hearts are graced with true repentance. As St John in his account of the crucifixion quotes the prophecy of Zechariah, that the spirit of repentance is poured into the human heart when they shall look on their Saviour pierced by their sins (Zec 12:10).
At Easter, the apostle reaches to touch this wound near the heart of the Risen Lord. Thomas had insisted, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my finger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (Jn 20:25). Knowing well that behind that arrogant demand was a cry of despair, Christ appears just for him, “Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe” (Jn 20:27). Thomas does not just come to believe. He. in fact, receives the ultimate revelation of Christ’s divinity, causing him to worship Jesus, “My Lord and my God” (v 28). The wounds of Christ are now the proof of the Resurrection, of the victory of life over death. Easter leads to the feast of the Divine Mercy where the wounds emanate the dazzling streams of mercy to revive the wretched earth.
Pope Benedict XVI of blessed memory offers a key teaching on the healing aspect of the wounds of Christ.
He reminds us how the wounds of Christ were a source of agony. Jesus dies because his blood was drained through these wounds. The wounded Christ was the picture of the brutality of the Roman Empire. Each time the disciples of Jesus had journeyed outside Jerusalem, they would usually turn their heads away from the sight of the rebels who were put through this torturous death. This most dreaded execution was a public event, to serve a warning to anyone considering rebellion. When the apostles pictured their Master crucified this way, they were shattered and panic-stricken.
Three days pass. The Holy Spirit raises Jesus to life, giving Him a glorified body. Here is the ultimate assurance of the glorious destiny for wounded humanity. St Paul writes, “If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also” (Rom 8:11).
Explaining this, Pope Benedict XVI points to us the peculiar feature of the glorified body of the Risen Lord. It still bears the marks of the wounds. He asks if the Holy Spirit has forgotten to erase these! Not at all. These wounds are retained for a reason. Touched by the Holy Spirit, they are so transformed that now they are channels of mercy and salvation. The Pope concludes that these wounds that once caused pain have now become the source of joy. “Christ showed them His hands and His feet… The disciples were incredulous for joy and were amazed” (Lk 24:41).
It is this same promise of incredulous joy that every wound we bear holds for us. As we unite our wounds with that of Christ, the Holy Spirit gaining access, moves in to transform the nature of our wounds. What once caused bitterness becomes the venue of God’s glory in our individual lives. It is this new quality that St Paul is explaining in the promise, “We know that all things work for good for those who love God” (Rom 8:28).
When we contemplate Christ’s sacrifice in faith, we realize that no tear is wasted, no scar is despised, no hurt is dismissed. God considers each of these as so precious that scripture reminds us that God has kept a count of every tossing, preserving our tears in a bottle. What we do not remember, He has recorded.
Moreover, when we unite our sufferings with the wounds of Jesus, we are gained a share in the Lord’s salvific mission. In order to unite our wounds with Christ’s, there are a few things required of us.
1) Contemplate the crucified Lord. Realizing how loved we are, we in turn grow in love for the Lord. “We love because He first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). St Therese attributes her deliverance from emotional fragility and hypersensitivity, caused by the shock of her mother’s death, to the contemplation of the crucifix.
2) Recognize that Christ accomplished His mission through his sufferings. Unjust sufferings have utmost value. “You are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you” (1 Pet 4:14).
3) We have been sent to the world with a mission. St Paul helps us understand that the prime force in our mission is our sufferings. He boasts not in how many sermons he gave, or how many people he converted, to how many places he went to mission. He boasts of his sufferings (2 Cor 11).
4) Affirm your faith in the healing Christ has won for you. Looking at the deathly sickness Lazarus suffered, Jesus said, “This illness is not unto death; it is for the glory of God” (Jn 11:4). This is what Christ is confident of, for everyone crushed by suffering. The Lord knew well the prophecy of Isaiah, that He must be wounded for generations of broken humanity to experience the tangible intervention of God’s healing love in their individual lives. He welcomed every atrocity inflicted on Him, for this reason. The wounds of Christ show much He loved us. A love that will not fail us. A love we get to experience through the wonderful opportunity offered in our wounds.