THE INCURABLE WOUND
INTRODUCTION
The title of my homily for this 17 Tuesday in Ordinary Time is, “The Incurable
Wound!”
That’s part of a sentence in today’s first reading from
Jeremiah 14: 17. Other English translations: “a most grievous injury”[JB]; “a
very painful wound” [JSB]; “a cruel blow” [NEB]; “deeply wounded and badly hurt”
[GNB]; “mortally wounded” [LB]; “a very
grievous blow” [KJV].
BACKGROUND - THE BACK STORY
Jeremiah is screaming, praying, challenging, yelling at God
for what is happening in Israel.
First it’s a drought - and then on top of that a war is going on - both of
which bring sickness, plague, death to so many. Jeremiah blames everything on
the sins of the people worshipping false Gods. This was what was happening under
Jehoiakim [609-598 B.C.] This takes place in the south - in Jerusalem and Judah.
Jeremiah is begging God for an end to the horrors - and a healing of a wound
that seems incurable.
I can hear the people of Syria
screaming these very same screams today - along with the people in the Sudan and other
parts of the world where war and violence and horror take place on a daily
basis.
PROBING WITH QUESTIONS
One of the first thing a doctor asks is: “Where does it
hurt?”
If someone asked us that question right now, how would we
answer that question: “Where does it hurt?”
Question: Have we ever had a really nasty wound - that seemed incurable - a wound that just wouldn’t heal -
a hurt - that wouldn't go away.
We have heard stories of family fights and cutting disasters
- that won’t heal - ongoing unforgiving fights over wills and who took care of
parents.
Then we have heard over and over again about sexual abuse
cases. People have been wounded for life
in these crimes by those who prey on children.
And there is the double whammy, recent reports indicate that
those who are sex offenders, can’t be healed of their mind set and disorder.
Question: How do we bring any of this to a practical turn
for the better and not a turn for the worse?
JULY 31 - FEAST OF ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA
Today is the feast of St. Ignatius. We might know he was hit
by a cannonball in battle and legs were injured - one shattered. He was
operated on and he also had to be reoperated on. He ended up with one leg
shorter than the other and he walked with a limp for the rest of his life.
We know in his recovery period - he discovered a deeper
wound in his soul - that he didn’t know how it could be healed. His conscience
troubled him deeply - from his past. The books he wanted didn’t work. The books
he got, a life of Christ and the lives of the saints gave him hope - but only
after deep reflection - and when what they said sunk in. Slowly he healed.
I think of one of my favorite saints, St. Camillus de
Lellis, whose feast was July 18th. His leg was wounded and infected
and sore for years. It kept on getting worse - but it brought him to a holy
place - and he was healed.
So yes some wounds are ongoing; some are incurable; but the deepest spriritual and personal
wounds can be cured - please God.
HOW - SOME SUGGESTIONS - A CONCLUSION
I went looking for answers and quotes last night and came up with these
three answers for now and a few interesting quotes:
1) Admit you're hurting. Admit you've been wounded in life. Show your wounds to someone. Bring them to God Talk. Talk to someone
- the right person or doctor. Cuts heal better in fresh air.
In Vergil’s Aeneid, there is line, “Tacitum vivit sub pectore, volnus.” “Deep
in her chest still lives the secret wound.”
Horace wrote in one of his letters,
“Stultorum incurata pudor malus ulcera
celat.” “Fools, through false shame, conceal their open wounds.”
So step one - admit and acknowledge our hurts
and wounds.
2) Realize it takes
time to heal. Time heals all wounds.
Shakespeare - in Othello - Act II, scene
3, line 259, has someone say, “What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”
That’s
an old saying.
Heinrik Ibsen in Brand, Act. IV, has someone say, “Many a wound
must be probed till it bleeds before you are cured of your sickness.”
If
someone has been hurting for a long time, sometimes it takes a long time for a
healing.
The gospel story of the woman who was bleeding for 12 years and was
healed instantly by just touching Jesus, would be nice.
If the hurt is another
remember Jane Ace’s one liner: “Time wounds all heels.” There’s a lot of truth
to that. Most word it this way: “What goes around comes around.” Of course we have to hesitate about that one,
because it might just add to the hurt.
3) Accept scars. They are part of the healing process. Byron
in Childe Harold, Canto III, stanza 84 [1816] writes, “What deep wounds ever
close without a scar?”
And John Oldham, in his work, Satires upon the Jesuits, No. 3. [1680] wrote, A
wound, tho’ cured, yet leaves behind a scar.”
Scars can be ugly or unsightly, but they are a sign of healing.
Anyone
want to see my scars?
OOOOOOOOOO
Painting on top: Untitled Wound [1990-91], Oil Painting by Michael Clark [1954- ]
