Wounded God...> Healing wounded World
Victor Edwin SJ "Yesterday, I went to Chester, a little city close to Wales. I was walking around in the city centre. City centre was full of weekend visitors. There I found an Afro British man standing behind a small table with literature on Jesus was speaking about Jesus. Often I have seen Evangelical Christians and Muslims distributing reading materials for free in city centres.
Earlier, I have never shown any interest in listening to such preachers. However, some how I felt I should listen to this man who was giving witness to Christ. I went closer to him and listened. He was talking about compassionate God. I could not but think of Paul speaking to the audience on Athens about his faith! His message was simple.
He said God is good and loving. He gave his son out of love. Jesus, son of God through his woundedness heal the wounded world. Jesus is the face of wounded God. Only way to respond to this loving God is to love one another and forgive others. He repeated this in many beautiful ways.
There were many other, mostly teenagers were listening to him. First of all I was indeed surprised about his courage: to stand amidst a large number of week end visitors and speak about Christ. Secondly, he was saying something which I do feel the world need to hear. Indeed he set the tone for my whole day of reflection and prayer.
Thinking of his message I went to visit and pray at Chester Cathedral. The Cathedral has a rich and fascinating heritage. Chester Cathedral is a truly remarkable building, with a history spanning almost two thousand years.
According to legend, a prehistoric Druid temple existed on this site, which was succeeded by a Roman temple dedicated to Apollo. When Christianity became the state religion of Rome in the fourth century AD, the pagan temple may have become a Christian church. A picture and a statue of the Virgin and Child impressed me a lot.
The picture is painted on the web of a caterpillar. This famous painting is about 200 years old. A Tyrolean art form, there are apparently only 64 remaining in the world, and this is the only one in the UK.
However, the statue of our Lady with toddler Jesus struck me very deeply. I felt the statue somehow deepened the message of the preacher at the City Centre. The sculptor has used loose and uneven scrap copper sheets to make this beautiful statue. The statue powerfully highlight the poverty of Mother and Son.
The sculptor's note which is kept at the feet of the statue tells that the sculptor used scrap and broken sheets to convey the woundedness of God. The sculptor wanted to show that the wounded Lord is shown to be the healer of the wounded world. I was deeply moved by the words of the preacher at the City Centre and the words of the sculptor which came alive in the statue. The challenge is to forgive others, so that we can really talk about woundedness of God and bring about healing. "
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Courtesy: Victor Edwin SJ
Email: victoredwinsj@gmail.com
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