The Wounds of Christ Applied to the Soul

“See my hands and my feet” (Lk 24:39). Jesus would have us contemplate his holy and glorious wounds. The wounds of the Risen Christ are the glory of the Father and the joy of the Church. The wounds of Christ are the indelible sign of his everlasting priesthood and the remedy for our wounds, fountains of healing for us, springs of salvation.

“Repent, therefore,” says Saint Peter, "and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out” (Ac 3:19). Turn again? Turn whereto? To the holy and glorious wounds of Jesus Christ. There is a very simple form of contemplative prayer in which the risen Christ applies His wounds to the wounds of the soul. It is an operation of naked faith, a wordless contact in the darkness. It touches the secret unexposed places deep within, concealed well below feelings and concepts.

The wounds of Christ are not only our healing; they are the glorification of the Father as well, and this, throughout all eternity. The risen and ascended Christ presents Himself before the Father’s face. He says to the Father exactly what he says to us: “See my hands and my feet.” The Father, reads the immensity of His love in the depths of His wounds, and in the wounds of the Son the Father is glorified.

Our Lord desires that we should contemplate His glorious wounds, even as the Father contemplates them in the heavenly sanctuary where Christ is living forever to intercede for all who come to God through him (Heb 7:25).