When Our Wounds Are Healed

[Mark Dohle]

When Our Wounds Are Healed

In Chapter Two—At the Foot of the Cross—we learned the importance of digging deep within us to pull out our entire root system of sin. Now we learn that, buried with our sins, there is also a root system of disordered tendencies, anxieties, and fears that are infecting our wounds. The devil has exploited those wounds to separate us from God and prevent us from receiving and giving love. When our wounds are healed, the devil can no longer exploit us as he did before.

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Many people abhor the idea of sin, thinking that admitting we are sinners is somehow an insult to humanity. It is not. Admitting sin is embracing our responsibility for our lives. Sin implies that we can choose another path and that we need to own up to what we have done. Part of that understanding is to seek mercy.

Evil wants to enchain us. Addictions are a good example. In the sexual sphere, we sin when we treat each other as objects or believe that sex is just for fun. Using others can lead to degradation, as seen in worldwide sex trafficking, broken marriages, and the suffering of children.

How we treat one another is important. We need not be afraid of growing in love for others or of showing compassion. Each act of compassion, no matter how small, is a building block. Conversely, acts of hatred or cruelty destroy our humanity and souls little by little. Sin is not compulsion, though compulsion left unchecked will lead to the same place.

It is a painful road to walk when we decide to open our hearts to grace. Sorrow and regret can become powerful forces in our lives. Prayer allows God’s grace to work in our souls, slowly healing us and allowing us to grow in our ability to love others, as well as in compassion and empathy. We see ourselves in the struggles and failures of others. We reach out to help them, or if we cannot, we pray for them. We learn to pray for those we feel hatred for, and we begin to understand what praying the ‘Our Father’ is all about.

Evil can be a personal force. I believe in demonic forces, and the experience of the Catholic Church is powerful in this regard. Evil wants to hollow us out and consume our humanity until we become what we love the most, leading to hatred of self, others, and in the end, God. People are foolish to think that only what we can see is real. The world is much bigger than we can imagine.

The spiritual cosmic war between good and evil is lived out in the human heart. Admitting that we are part of the problem (sinners) can be the first step toward inner healing and deepening our relationship with God.

God is not to be feared. Awe, yes, but fear, never. Jesus said, “Fear is useless; what is needed is trust” (Luke 8:50).*Br.MD

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