The scandal of Christ's wounds

By Pat Knight

Doubting Thomas by Caravaggio (Wikimedia Commons)

Last weekend during his sermon at the canonization of John XXIII and John Paul II, Pope Francis talked about Christ in His resurrected form. “The wounds of Jesus are a scandal, a stumbling block for faith, yet they are also the test of faith.”

These words have echoed in my head since Divine Mercy  +Sunday, as they strike so true. Christ’s wounds do cause doubt in me; how could God Himself have been injured? How could He have allowed Himself to die? Does He have limitations? Having doubt is unfortunately inevitable for a Catholic.

Even the apostles who walked, saw, and knew Jesus felt doubt. St. Thomas refused to believe in the resurrection unless he saw it for himself, Peter denied Christ three times. Losing faith doesn’t have to be an extreme. We don’t have to wake up every morning and question the existence of God to have doubt.

We have doubt whenever we worry, whenever we forget to rely completely on His will. Peter doubted when he lost trust in Jesus and fell into the water, instead of continuing to walk. It’s hard a lot of the time not to worry, but we can’t. God loves us so much that He died for us.


Pat Knight is a contributing blogger to Love is Calling.