Festering Wounds

Confessional in Rome: photo by Betty Parquette

Some years ago, it came to our attention that one of our older sons had a lump on his hip which caused him some discomfort. I took him to our physician who insisted it was foreign body working it's way out, maybe from an injury long ago. I, in turn, insisted it was something else. I'm a stay at home mom, and I would have known if he had injured himself that badly. The doctor however refused to refer to anyone else and wanted us to wait and see.  

So we waited...and it grew...and nothing emerged.

Back at the doctor, insisting for a biopsy we learned that the bump on his hip was a type of cyst which grows on the nerve lining. Surgery was necessary and a wider than normal marginal area would be needed to ensure the cyst would not grow back. I remember being so concerned about this fact that I reiterated it to the surgeon.

Our son was only about 8 years and was very frightened of the surgery. He in fact did have a bit of a reaction to the anesthetic and this only reinforced his fear. Recovering from surgery, we were informed that the surgeon did not do his job in cutting out that wider than normal marginal area. His flippant bed-side manner and wait and see attitude was so infuriating, we insisted on a different surgeon to complete what should have been.

This new doctor was amazingly accommodating. Fear from the prior surgery left our boy refusing to 'go under' again. Like I said, the doctor was great and agreed to operate with just a local anesthesia AND allow me to be IN the operating room holding his hand. 

During the procedure I watched as the surgeon place the scalpel on the wound and cut. Assuring our boy that he was doing great as he offered up his pain for others, I couldn't take my eyes from the wound. In my mind, I saw the wound made by the soldier as he thrust his spear into the side of Christ. The image has always stayed with me.

Pieta: photo by Betty Parquette

Fast forward to the past few months. Another son, a teenager, found that he had a cyst on his back. Not the same as his brother but one that definitely needed to be removed as it was festering. This was a deep wound, and after a week post-op it proved to be infected. A gaping hole appeared which needed to be packed twice daily. The wound would not heal properly if it wasn't healing from the inside-out. Superficial healing may look good on the surface but will only exacerbate the problem. The only way good deep healing would take place was if we kept the wound open, in all its seeping ugliness. The healing process has been long and continues but it is the only way for him to be whole again.

One of the good shepherds of our flock once gave me sage advice. "You have to reopen the wound in order to apply the salve." Some wounds are just so very deep, hard to see on the surface at times but effecting the whole body.

Our beloved Bride of Christ, the Body of which we are a part of has an ugly, deep infection. An injury inflicted on her by wolves in sheep's clothing. As with any injury inflicted by animals, infection is very, very deep. Even if superficial healing seems to have occurred, the oozing infection that has been mistreated by supposed physicians has now abscessed. This wound MUST stay open until all infection has been cleared. The swaddling bands of the Christ child are needed to pack these open sores, keeping them open until we, the body, are completely healed.

Christ at the cross, poured out for us, and the spear thrust into His side, piercing His most Sacred Heart, giving birth to His Church, took every pain, every infection, every ugly sin and made sacred our pain. He gave all, without holding a drop back to heal us of our deepest wounds. 

We must bring out to the open our deepest sin, our deepest pain, holding nothing back. As the bridegroom sacrifices His all, the most beautiful response from the bride is to respond by giving him her all. He is the Divine Physician poured out for us. The deepest hurts can not be healed until they are brought to Him, to the light. Then, the healing Abyss of Mercy will be applied and His healing will bring a new, vibrant, and intimate union of Christ and His Bride.

What a joy that day will be, and that day will come! May the healing begin!