Our Wounded God

Christ’s Holy and Glorious Wounds

I was present in Saint Peter’s Square last Sunday when, in the course of Holy Mass, Pope Benedict XVI preached the mystery of the Wounds of Christ. “He is a wounded God,” said the Holy Father,”He let Himself be wounded through His love for us.”

The Paschal Candle

All through Paschaltide the liturgy invites us to contemplate the Holy and Glorious Wounds of the Lord symbolized by the “wounds” in the “flesh” of the Paschal Candle. The Paschal Candle is an image of the Risen Christ who stands before His Father in the heavenly sanctuary and in the midst of His Church on earth, displaying His glorious wounds.

Benedict XVI Echoes the Experience of the Saints

The saints — from Saint Bernard in the twelfth century and Saint Francis in the thirteenth to the Servant of God Marie-Marthe Chambon in the nineteenth and Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in the twentieth centuries — teach us to fix our gaze on the wounds of Christ, Priest and Victim. The Holy Father’s homily was in mystic continuity with the experience of the saints:

The Lord took His wounds with Him to eternity.
He is a wounded God; He let Himself be wounded through His love for us.
His wounds are a sign for us that He understands
and allows Himself to be wounded out of love for us.
These wounds of His: how tangible they are to us in the history of our time!
Indeed, time and again He allows himself to be wounded for our sake.
What certainty of His mercy, what consolation do his wounds mean for us!
And what security they give us regarding His identity: “My Lord and my God!”.
And what a duty they are for us,
the duty to allow ourselves in turn to be wounded for Him!
God’s mercy accompanies us daily.
To be able to perceive His mercy it suffices to have a vigilant heart.

The Text in Italian

Il Signore ha portato con sé le sue ferite nell’eternità.
Egli è un Dio ferito; si è lasciato ferire dall’amore verso di noi.
Le ferite sono per noi il segno che Egli ci comprende
e che si lascia ferire dall’amore verso di noi.
Queste sue ferite – come possiamo noi toccarle nella storia di questo nostro tempo!
Egli, infatti, si lascia sempre di nuovo ferire per noi.
Quale certezza della sua misericordia e quale consolazione esse significano per noi!
E quale sicurezza ci danno circa quello che Egli è: “Mio Signore e mio Dio!”
E come costituiscono per noi un dovere di lasciarci ferire a nostra volta per Lui!
Le misericordie di Dio ci accompagnano giorno per giorno.
Basta che abbiamo il cuore vigilante per poterle percepire.