We live in a wounded world.
There is so much pain and suffering. All of us are wounded in one way or another whether it is through no fault of our own or because of the sins of another.
When we choose to acknowledge our woundedness, we can actually grow. Our wounds and scars remind us of what we have gone through and how far we have come. Beauty and new life can spring forth from them but, for that to happen, we have to be willing to allow Christ in.
Allowing Christ’s perfect love into our lives and into our suffering changes everything. I know this is difficult to grasp since suffering can be such a mystery, but there is nothing we suffer that Jesus doesn’t understand. He suffers with us. His commitment to us and His love for us is unconditional. Tremendous beauty and even joy are to be found when we unite our suffering (and subsequently our wounds) to Christ’s wounds. If more people in this wounded world did this, lives would be radically transformed.
“Unless there is a Good Friday in your life, there can be no Easter Sunday.” -Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
We see the pain and grief of Good Friday and yet it was not the end. Rather, it was just the beginning! Everything that Jesus endured led to something incredible. It led to the joy of the Resurrection on Easter Sunday. Jesus, the Son of God, willingly stretched out His arms for us on the cross on Good Friday and died for us in the ultimate act of unselfish love. Because of His love and willingness to suffer and die for us, we now have life and hope.
I have always been moved by the fact that, even after Jesus rose from the dead, His wounds remained. Similarly, our wounds (physical, spiritual, and emotional) don’t just go away. Jesus shows us the importance of our wounds. They become a part of us. However, we have to choose whether or not we address our wounds and whether or not we recognize the beauty in them. Though we are so often left with scars, we can learn to truly live again – to live in hope, joy, peace, and freedom. Anyone who has been on a healing journey knows that this does not come easy. Yet, allowing Christ into our lives and inviting Him to help us on our journeys can make all the difference.
As Christians approach the great feast of Easter, I want to remind you how loved you are and that your wounds – whatever they are – can become beautiful if we allow God’s love to enter them. When we draw closer to Him in faith, we find that His wounds heal us (Isaiah 53:4-5). My friends, let us pray that the healing power of Christ washes over us and this wounded world during the Easter season and always. May we always allow ourselves to be filled with the hope that can only come from God’s presence in our lives.
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