Healing Christ's Wounds

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

St. Paul says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, brought us to life in Christ” (Eph. 2:4-5).

The wounds of Christ are a sign of the intensity of His love for us.

St. Josemaría liked to say, “Enter into the wounds of Christ Crucified” (Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, Point 288). When we contemplate the Cross of Christ, we can ask Our Lord for the strength of love to carry it.

Many writers have talked about how Christ is a book of wisdom, how the Cross is a book. The center of this wisdom is the Cross, supreme love revealed.

He could have saved us in other ways, but “how inscrutable are his judgments, how unsearchable his ways” (Rom. 11:33).

On the cross we become Christ-like. We “put off the old person” (cf. Eph. 4:22).

St. Augustine says that the cross is a seat of learning. The self-giving of Jesus on the Cross is full of love for the will of the Father. The Holy Spirit comes to us through the wounds of the crucifixion. The cross reveals the infinite love of God.

“At that time, Jesus exclaimed, ‘I bless you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to little children” (Matt. 11:25). These great messages are revealed to little children.

There's a wisdom of the cross that is opposed to the wisdom of the flesh. We learn that there's only one victim. We are never victims.

The only victim is Christ. Through that wounded heart, we understand Jesus from within. We enter His inner works. We understand why He did what He did.

We understand what is in that heart—and what is in that heart is love.

We don't know Christ's heart. But the heart of Christ makes the word “love” meaningful.

Sacrificial love: a willingness to be on the cross. That’s a summary of the whole of our faith: the love of God from man unto death.

Christ could have said, ‘Your sins are forgiven you.’ It could have all been over. But if He had not died, we could not have experienced the depth of His love.

We often see the exquisite example of the love, affection, and mercy of Jesus with everyone: sinners, the sick, the needy, children.

God's mercy is infinite. It's greater than His justice. God is the Father of mercy.

The Encyclical of John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, was one of his first Encyclicals. The Father, Rich in Mercy. He “sees in secret” (Matt. 6:4,6,18) and He wishes to reveal the mystery of His love.

Modern man is very much in need of that mercy. One of the principal themes of Our Lord's preaching was His mercy in fresh aspects all the time: the good shepherd (John 10:11-16), the lost coin (Luke 15:8-10). St. Luke's Gospel is the gospel of mercy.

Christ reveals the content of the mercy of God and He wants our lives to be guided by mercy and love. “The merciful shall obtain mercy” (Matt. 5:7). Christ is a model of mercy towards others.

Mercy signifies a special power of love that prevails over sin. The subtleties of love become manifest in God's mercy.

Mercy is a notion that pertains very much to God, but also to men. Mercy is a sign of the closeness of man to God.

Contrasted with God's justice, His mercy is shown to be more powerful and more profound.

Love conditions justice and justice serves love. Justice ends up meaning salvation won by God and His mercy. It excludes hatred towards others.

Fulton Sheen says, “Virtuous innocence never claims immunity from the guilt of others. That is why an innocent woman was found at the foot of the Cross. The truest sympathy is found in those who, with the strength of love, come out of the sunshine into the gloom and dimness of others, to touch wounds tenderly, as though their own nerves throbbed with pain” (Fulton J. Sheen, Guide to Contentment).

In St. Luke, we're told that God is like a shepherd who leaves the ninety-nine to go in search of the one that is lost (cf. Luke 15:1-7). God is like a woman who searches the entire house to find the coin she lost (cf. Luke 15:8-10).

He's like a father who comes out of the house to welcome back his prodigal son, and who comes out of the house a second time to entice the elder son to come in and join the party (cf. Luke 15:20, 28).

Today God has thrown a party during which we can receive God's infinite mercy. Our role is to go to the party to receive God's mercy, the eternal wedding feast.

No human sin can erase the mercy of God or prevent Him from unleashing all His triumphant power if we just call upon Him.

In the Encyclical Veritatis splendor, John Paul says, “Indeed, sin itself makes even more radiant the love of the Father, who, in order to ransom a slave sacrificed his Son: his mercy towards us is Redemption” (John Paul II, Encyclical Veritatis splendor, August 6, 1993). Without sin, there is no mercy.

St. Thomas Aquinas says, “It is proper to God to exercise mercy, and he manifests his omnipotence, particularly in this way” (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, II-II, Question 30).

“St. Thomas's words show that God's mercy, rather than a sign of weakness, is the mark of his omnipotence” (Pope Francis, Bull of Indiction of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, Misericordiae vultus, April 11, 2015).

There's a healing value in the wounds of Christ. Those who suffer have to heal those wounds.

“The Good Samaritan,” we're told by Pope Francis, “not only draws nearer to the man that he finds half dead…; but he takes responsibility for him” (Pope Francis, Message for the World Communications Day, June 1, 2014).

“He invests in him, not only with the funds he has on hand but also with funds he does not have and hopes to earn in Jericho: he promises to pay any additional costs upon his return (Luke 10:25-37).

“Likewise, Christ invites us to trust in his invisible grace that prompts us to the generosity of supernatural charity, as we identify with everyone who is ill: ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me’ (Matt. 25:40).

“This affirmation expresses a moral truth of universal scope: ‘we need then to show care for all life and for the life of everyone’ (John Paul II, Encyclical Evangelium vitae, March 25, 1995) and thus to reveal the original and unconditional love of God, the source of the meaning of all life” (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Letter, Samaritanus bonus, Sept. 22, 2020).

“The Samaritan's ‘heart that sees’, sees that human life is a sacred and inviolable gift. Whatever their physical or psychological condition, human persons always retain their original dignity as created in the image of God. They can live and grow in the divine splendor because they're called to exist ‘in the image and glory of God’ (1 Cor. 11:7: 2 Cor. 3:18). Their dignity lies in this vocation.

“God became man to save us, and he promises us salvation and calls us to communion with him: here lies the ultimate foundation of human dignity. Here lies the ultimate foundation of human dignity” (Ibid.).

“The Good Samaritan is he who goes out of his way to aid an injured man. He signifies Christ who encounters man in need of salvation and cares for his wounds and suffering with ‘the oil of consolation and the wine of hope’ (Roman Missal, Preface). He is the physician of souls and bodies, ‘the faithful witness’ (Rev. 3:14) of the divine salvific presence in the world. How to make this message concrete today? How to translate it into a readiness to accompany a suffering person in the terminal stages of life in this world, and to offer this assistance in a way that respects and promotes the intrinsic human dignity of persons who are ill, their vocation to holiness, and thus the highest worth of their existence?” (Ibid.).

“Each of us has been robbed of our original holiness by original sin. Our own selfishness and our sins and the sins of others have deeply wounded our souls. We lay on the side of life's path in need of a Savior. We have been broken and bruised and wounded; the Lord kneels down and lifts us up with His healing touch.

“Christ is the Good Samaritan, the merciful Lord who heals and restores us with the balm of his sacraments, who pays for our salvation with the boundless riches of his grace, poured out generously on Calvary's cross and entrusted to the innkeeper of the Church, who watches over our convalescence until he comes again.

“He is the Lord, yes, but the truly noble Lord, who cares enough to come meet us in our need and carry us safely to his Father's inn” (Fr. John Bartunek, The Better Part).

We have to try and put effort into being detached from everything on the earth, so that we can deal with all these wonderful things with our minds always fixed on the service of God and our fellow man.

There's no limitation to forgiveness; no injury so gross that it cannot be forgiven. The sea absorbs impurities, remaining undefiled.

Love keeps no record of wrongs and “God is love” (1 John 4:8, 16). “Love” is in the will. “Like” is in the emotions or the senses.

“Without memory, there is no healing. Without forgiveness, there is no future” (Desmond Tutu).

Love does not let the wrongs of others pollute its flow of positive energy. When we contemplate the breathtaking mercy of God, new horizons open for us.

We learn that understanding and forgiving are the most radical manifestations of love.

More and more, we can draw close to those wounds of Christ, to draw the strength of love from there.

We can try to understand those who don't understand us, even those who don't want to understand, and to understand them with no duplicates in the files.

There may be a need for great mortification if we are to live this understanding. We may need to be willing to give in. In practice, nothing matters in this world.

Our Lord talks about this “seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:21-22)—to have a forgiving approach to life without limit. An unlimited pardon.

We have to be careful with arguments. Sometimes it's trifling matters or sharp replies or disconcerting gestures, often caused by no more than tiredness or not living our Christian vocation well, if at the least sign of friction, our charity begins to grow cold, and we feel distanced from others.

Following Our Lord and being close to His wounds means finding, even in areas of tiny contradictions, the way to holiness.

“Mercy…has the interior form of love.” It's “able to reach down to every prodigal child, to every human misery, and to every form of moral misery, which is sin. When this happens, the person…who is the object of mercy does not feel humiliated, but rather found again and ‘restored to value’” (John Paul II, Encyclical, Dives in misericordia, November 30, 1980).

Lord, may we learn all these lessons from your wounds, to see the special value of mercy and forgiveness.

In that Encyclical, Dives in misericordia, John Paul II says Christ is “the incarnation of mercy. … In Christ and through Christ, God also becomes especially visible in His mercy…there is emphasized that attribute of the divinity which the Old Testament, using various concepts and terms, already defined as ‘mercy.’

“Christ confers on the whole of the Old Testament tradition about God's mercy a definitive meaning. Not only does He speak of it and explain it using comparisons and parables, but above all, He Himself makes it incarnate and personifies it. He Himself, in a certain sense, is mercy. To the person who sees it in Him—and finds it in Him—God becomes ‘visible’ in a particular way as the Father who is ‘rich in mercy’” (Eph. 2:4).

Pope Francis says, “We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace” (Pope Francis, Misericordiae vultus). Our salvation depends on it.

“In the parables devoted to mercy, Jesus reveals the nature of God as that of a Father who never gives up until he has forgiven the wrong and overcome rejection with compassion and mercy” (Ibid.).

Almsgiving is also knowing how to listen, paying attention to others, not being in a hurry, smiling, doing favors, lending a hand.

“Mercy,” says Pope Francis, “is the very foundation of the Church's life” (Ibid.).

The Church “has an endless desire to show mercy” (Pope Francis, Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii gaudium, November 24, 2013).

In our tradition of health care and education, the Church has stretched out her hand to all corners of society, to every last person, to try and show that mercy.

“All of her pastoral activity should be caught up in the tenderness she makes present to believers” (Pope Francis, Misericordiae vultus).

I was impressed in the hospital where I used to work, founded and run by nuns for over 150 years, there were certain policies.

One of those policies was that nobody ever died alone. When a patient was dying, a nurse would be assigned to sit with that patient, even if that meant hours, so the person who was dying would feel that hand of charity and of love and of mercy, expressed in a human way.

Pope Francis says, “The Church is commissioned to announce the mercy of God, the beating heart of the Gospel, which in its way must penetrate the heart and mind of every person” (Ibid.).

We have to give importance to corporal works of mercy within the family, educating children in that sense of giving to others, of concern for others, of reaching out to others with what we have. Sometimes it might only be our time, or our affection, or our attention.

“Mercy is not opposed to justice but rather expresses God's way of reaching out to the sinner, offering him a new chance to look at himself, to convert, and to believe” (Ibid.).

For those suffering, we have to feed them with spiritual food. There's also the spiritual works of mercy.

On the way into Naim, when Our Lord sees that widow and the stretcher of her only son being carried out, He does something about it. He doesn't just have a feeling of mercy and compassion. He doesn't say, ‘My prayers and my thoughts are with you.’

He went up and He touched the stretcher (Luke 7:15). That desire to give mercy leads to service.

This is the first thing that Our Lady does after the Annunciation. She went “into the hill country” (Luke 1:39).

St. John of Chrysostom says, “He who assists the needy makes God his debtor.”

“Mercy is another word for love,” says St. John Paul (cf. Dives in Misericordia).

“How very insistent,” St. Josemaría said in The Forge, Point 454, “the Apostle St. John was in preaching the mandatum novum, the new commandment, that we should love one another! I would fall on my knees, without putting on any act—but this is what my heart dictates—and ask you, for the love of God, to love one another, to help one another, to lend one another a hand, to know how to forgive one another. And so, reject all pride, be compassionate, show charity, help each other with prayer and sincere friendship.”

The Word of God puts us on guard against the danger of hardening our hearts, of having a forgiving heart. “Take out this heart of stone and give me a heart of flesh” (cf. Ezek. 36:26).

Help me to know how to forgive, which is the loving refusal to demand compensation for past injuries or hurts. Our call is to let these things pass, to let them flow onto the bridge, so that we don't keep a blacklist somewhere in a fold of our brain.

Sometimes we can have an amazing memory to realize that those who hurt us may not even realize that they're hurting us. “We should have a special cemetery in which we can bury the faults of our friends and loved ones” (cf. Henry Ward Beecher).

God said to St. Paul, “Why do you persecute me?” (Acts 9:4). When we criticize or judge or compare, we are persecuting. We have to learn to look at others with love and compassion, to witness to mercy.

“At times we are called to gaze even more attentively on mercy so that we may become a more effective sign of the Father's action in our lives. The most creative power given to the human spirit is the power to heal the wounds of a past it cannot change” (Lewis B. Smedes, The Art of Forgiving).

With the wounds of Christ come many great lessons. That's why we have to enter into them.

“We do our forgiving alone, inside our hearts and minds. What happens to the people we forgive depends on them. The first person to benefit from forgiving is the one who does it. Forgiving happens in three stages: we rediscover the humanity of the person who wronged us, we surrender our right to get even, and we wish that person well.

“Forgiving is a journey; the deeper the wound, the longer the journey. Forgiving does not require us to reunite with the person who broke our trust. We do not forgive because we're supposed to; we forgive when we're ready to be healed.

“Waiting for someone to repent before we forgive is to surrender our future to the person who wronged us. Forgiving is not a way to avoid pain but to heal pain. Forgiving is the only way to be fair to ourselves” (Lewis B. Smedes, Forgive and Forget).

We can turn to Our Lady, “Mother of Mercy” (John Paul II, Veritatis splendor).

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, hail our life, our sweetness, and our hope.

Our Lady, says St. John Paul, “has the deepest knowledge of the mystery of God's mercy” (John Paul II, Dives in misericordia).

“No one has penetrated the profound mystery of the incarnation like Mary” (Pope Francis, Misericordiae vultus).

“She ‘merits’ that mercy in her own life” (John Paul II, Dives in misericordia).

“Through her sacrifice, she shares in the revelation of God's mercy” (John Paul II, Veritatis splendor).

“The motherhood of Mary in the order of grace lasts from the Annunciation until the end of time” (cf. Vatican II, Lumen Gentium, November 21, 1964).

Mary may you help us to enter into those wombs of Christ, and become a more merciful, more forgiving person, and to draw from there the strength to practice the spiritual and corporal works of mercy in greater ways, all the time.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

EW