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(a) |
As St. Bede says: "Christ went to the fight in
order to do the will of the Father".
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(b) |
To defend and save the world.
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(c) |
It was a hard struggle - the hardest of all -
but He defeated the enemy, although He had to
receive these wounds in order to do it.
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(d) |
The scars of wounds thus received are more
glorious than a body which has not received them
and is thus without any sign of battle. Because
of the fruits which have been achieved through
these wounds from which has come more glory than
blood; Christ did not fight through vainglory,
but for our love, in obedience, to achieve our
redemption.
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The confirmation of our faith: These
wounds are a firm argument for the Resurrection
of Jesus.
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(a) |
For this reason Christ showed them to the
disciples after the Resurrection.
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(b) |
Thomas also asks to see and touch the wounds in
order to be certain of the fact that Christ has
risen.
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(c) |
Christ offers to Thomas the opportunity to see
and touch them as a proof of the reality of his
Resurrection.
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(d) |
St. Gregory says: "The unbelief of Thomas was of
more value to us than the faith of the other
Apostles who already believed, because since he
was forced to believe through handling the
wounds, our minds, casting aside all doubt, are
confirmed in their faith. They confirm our faith
in our own resurrection. Since He has promised
that He is the first fruits of those who sleep -
that we shall one day rise with Him".
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An eternal reminder:
They are constantly presented to the Father
to placate His just anger.
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(a) |
For this reason St. John says: "If any of us
does fall into sin, we have an advocate to plead
our cause before the Father in the Just One,
Jesus Christ. He, in his own person, is the
atonement made for our sins, and not only for
ours, but for the sins of the whole world" (1
John 2).
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(b) |
The Father, contemplating the wounds of His Son,
will never forget the eternal reconciliation
with us which has been the effect of the merits
of Christ. These wounds plead for mercy more
strongly than our sins clamour for justice.
Through them Christ demonstrates for all time
the fact that He will be ever solicitous on
behalf of those whom He has redeemed; in Him
there is a perfect fulfilment of those words of
Isaias: "I will not be forgetful of Thee; why, I
have cut Thy image on the palms of my hands" (Isaias
49). They remind us of the love of Christ for
us. We see in them that we have been redeemed at
a great price, bought with the blood of Christ.
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