Touching the Wounds of Christ

HOMILY: Second Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday)

John 20:19-31

24 April 2022

Fr. Ricky Cañet Montañez, AA

Over the past few years, I’ve grown to become a K-Drama fan. Madami na din akong napanood lalo na nung mga lock down.   May mga favorite na din akong artista — sina Song Ye Jin and Song Hye Kyo.  The two of them, like many Korean K-Drama stars, seemingly have perfect features. Anyone can readily describe them as “flawless, whiter than white actors/actresses”!  Pre-pandemic, dinarayo talaga ang South Korea para sa cosmetics and skin care products. It is dubbed as the epicentre of beauty.  

However, the pandemic changed the perspective of beauty in South Korea.  Beauty simply had a different face. Their medical frontliners started posting pictures of their faces with lesions, bruises, scars and other deep marks across their foreheads, cheeks and noses caused by wearing protective gears for many hours. When asked about how they felt about these marks, the medical frontliners in Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital responded that instead of being intimidated and embarrassed by such wounds, they wear them like badges of honour in the raging battle. 

In today’s gospel passage from John, we see the Risen Jesus appearing to the Apostles and showing His wounded hands and side to them. I recall Cardinal Chito Tagle in his homily during the mass at the Easter Recollection he gave in 2018 asking: “How come the Risen Lord, the triumphant Lord, did not erase the signs of His death? If I were Jesus, triumphant, I would remove all signs, all memories, of my defeat, my shame and humiliation. But that is not the way of Jesus.” The sacred wounds of Jesus as we refer to them are seen rather as “marks” of sacrificial love, of mercy and compassion, of healing and redemption. We recall Isaiah’s prophetic words: “But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5) 

Also in today’s Gospel, Jesus does not only show His wounded hands and side but He also invites Thomas to touch His wounds. Directly addressing Thomas, Jesus tells him: “Put your finger here and see my hands and bring your hand and put it into my side.”  (John 20:27) When Jesus asks Thomas to touch His side, He was allowing him to verify and ascertain that it was He — that He was who He said He was — the very same Jesus whom he lived and ate with, journeyed with and who loved them. As people, we always tend to look for something tangible and palpable. It is not enough to see or be told about something. To be able to touch and feel something with our own hands, guarantees something is REAL. It gives a better understanding.  Touch sometimes communicates what words can’t — a mother’s comforting embrace, a father’s reassuring pat on your back, a friend’s empathic squeeze of your hand/arm, or a caress on the cheek of a lover.  The invitation to touch His wounds is extended to all of us today. To feel the nail marks is for us to recognise the truth that He lived, suffered and died for us. 

If we look closely at the resurrection narrative, we see that it does not tell us whether Thomas actually touched the wounds of Jesus. What we find thereafter is Thomas’ faith exclamation: “My Lord and my God” (John 20:28) — which according to Bible commentators is a profession of faith that outshines all others in the four Gospels. Furthermore, it is to be noted that these are the very words used to refer to the true God in the Old Testament. What is clear is that Thomas is convinced of the presence of the Risen Christ in their midst and in turn is asked to be that presence of the Risen Christ to others. I think the story leaves a little to our imagination so that we are left to decide how we choose to respond to the invitation. 

This invitation to Thomas to touch His wounded hands and side is extended to all of us. How do we touch the wounds of Christ? As a community of believers, we, touch the wounds of Jesus when we are able to embrace our own suffering; when we come face to face with trials and difficulty; when we find ourselves in painful situations and when we touch the wounds of our brothers and sisters who are also suffering. We have been through a lot in the past few years. We have lived in fear of getting sick, we have lost loved ones to COVID, we have lost jobs, we have had mental health concerns, etc. These days we are worried of  the rising prices of commodities, the division we have as a people because of our political colours and leanings, the outcome of the elections, the future of our nation, and the effect of the current war in Russia and Ukraine.  These are situations wherein we desire healing — situations that leave us with emotional, and even physical scars. Is it not true that when we are most troubled and in need, this is when we call out to the Lord the most in prayer?  This is when we are likely to encounter Jesus.  Firstly, because we actively seek Him, and secondly, because Jesus is closest to us when we are suffering with Him. These moments in our life, are the moments that will allow us to say Jesus is real, and that He is truly with us. 

Jesus is no longer physically present with us, but we have to realise that all hope is not lost. Jesus Himself acknowledges, that to touch is not the be all and end all. He talks about believers beyond His time on earth — you and me, and those who will live after us — that those who have not touched nor seen Him yet believe, are blessed. And what is it that bridges the divide between believing something is real and not being able to touch? It is faith and the love we have in our hearts. We have that hope that someday we will be able to touch Jesus when we meet Him one day in the company of all our loved ones in Heaven.  For now, we look forward to a total end to this pandemic and a brighter future for the country, that we may freely and safely embrace our loved ones around us.