Touching wounds with love

Open wounds are not for the squeamish. They're certainly not something many of us would want to look upon, let alone touch; if we had to, I imagine we'd do so with the utmost tenderness and care - and love, even for a stranger. And so for me, there is something disconcertingly ghoulish, something invasive, in Thomas' declaration that he doesn't just want to see or tentatively touch Jesus' wounds, but thrust his fingers and hand into them. It was probably just exaggeration and bravado: which Jesus, who loved and knew Thomas well, responded to in kind, thereby transforming impetuous words into a powerful statement of faith, and a lesson about the beatitude of belief.

St Madeleine Sophie used to say that the piercing of Jesus' Heart on Calvary marked the foundation of our Society: thus, contemplating the Pierced Heart in the heart of wounded humanity lies at the heart of being an RSCJ, and impels us to action and service. And in this same vein I began to reflect on today's Gospel a couple of evenings ago, when I joined my sisters in a time of prayer. Physically separated and in our isolations and lockdowns across the country, we came together in spirit and prayer at the same hour, beginning with these words from a recent Society JPIC document: Our spirituality impels us toward transformation through our contemplation of the pierced Heart of Jesus. This tradition binds us to one another and to others in our common efforts to act out of compassion in order to relieve suffering and effect change in our wounded world. 

In our contemplation we look, as scripture says, upon the One who has been pierced (John 19:37): not ghoulishly, or seeking proofs of resurrection, but because we have been drawn here through love. We are drawn by and into the compassionate love of that Heart, which has been wounded and broken open, that we might better see and respond to the wounds and brokenness around us. And in so doing, we aim to touch those wounds with love; always, only with love... as I'm sure Thomas, despite his shocking assertion, would have most deeply desired to do...