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Day 3: Jesus, that I may believe in you, that I may believe that you are love …
The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith. That is why on the body of the risen Christ the wounds never pass away: they remain, for those wounds are the enduring sign of God’s love for us.
They are essential for believing in God.
Not for believing that God exists, but for believing that God is love, mercy, and faithfulness. Saint Peter, quoting Isaiah, writes to Christians: “by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Pet 2:24, cf. Is 53:5).
Divine Mercy comes from the Heart of Christ, of the Risen Christ. It flows from the ever-open wound of his side, open for us, who are always in need of pardon and comfort.
We discover that the very sin that kept us apart from the Lord becomes the place where we encounter him. There the God who is wounded by love comes to meet our wounds. He makes our wretched wounds like his own glorious wounds. There is a transformation: My wretched wounds resemble his glorious wounds. Because he is mercy and works wonders in our wretchedness.
Conclude by praying five Our Fathers, as you contemplate each of Jesus’ five wounds. This is the invitation of Pope Francis:
Do not forget this: look at the crucifix, but to look within it. There is this beautiful devotion to pray an Our Father for each one of the five wounds: when we pray that Our Father, we seek to enter through Jesus’ wounds inside, inside, right to His heart. And there we will learn the great wisdom of Christ’s mystery, the great wisdom of the cross.
Background on Pope Francis’ devotion to the Five Wounds:
With repeated references in homilies and meditations, Pope Francis has revealed his special devotion to the Five Wounds of Jesus.
The Holy Father sees in this devotion a path to arrive to the Sacred Heart, and there to find that this heart is the beating heart of Divine Mercy.
He also sees it as a path to draw close to suffering humanity, and to recognize that Jesus has taken his wounds to the Father in order to pray for his wounded brothers and sisters.
Let us meditate on the Five Wounds with Pope Francis as a novena in preparation for the Feast of the Sacred Heart, which this year falls on June 19.
Join us for the following petitions in the coming days.
That I may console you
That I may love my brothers
That I may serve you in my brothers
That I may find you praying for me
That I may behold your wounded beauty
That I may commit myself to you as my God
Read more:
The powerful devotion to Jesus’ 5 Holy Wounds
Read more:
The 7-word prayer Pope Francis learned from his grandmother
