TOUCHING WOUNDS & DOUBTS
“Peace be with you … 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 20:26-27
The story of doubting Thomas is my story. Like him, I don’t always trust the testimony of others. Like him, I need to experience things in order for them to become real for me.
Wounds and doubts are intricately related. I doubt God’s presence or divine goodness more when I am especially wounded by life, or when I experience helplessness at the immense suffering of others. Trust is eroded when we cannot accept or understand suffering, others’ or ours.
Jesus did not offer Thomas an explanation but an experience. He breathed peace on Thomas and his friends (twice), while their hearts were still locked in fear. He gave them the power of his forgiving Mercy. Then he asked Thomas to touch his very wounds and hollowed flesh. In doing so, Jesus invited Thomas to come face to face with his very own wounds, to a healing process that enables him to proclaim with clarity and trust, “My Lord and my God.”
We are called to touch the wounds of Christ in others around us. In doing so, we allow grace to heal our hearts and minds, transforming whatever threatens life and erodes trust within us. In doing so, our pain is connected with the pain of all humanity, which he took upon himself and transformed. Our wounds are not removed but revealed to be part of a greater, divine wound of love. Solidarity is mysteriously born and strengthens us on the journey.
Perhaps the story of Thomas is our story. By touching wounds and doubts (ours and those of others), we come to greater peace and deeper faith. We come to have and to share life in Jesus’ name!
Lord Jesus, breathe peace into our wounds and doubts so that we may be your healing, merciful love.