This Easter Season’s gospels seem to me to have one over-all
theme: Jesus telling us Who He Is: The Crucified One, The Risen One, Bringer of
Peace, Good Shepherd, The Vine. Through the witness of the Disciples on Easter
Day, we come to know Jesus by His wounds. Reflecting on this brought me to also
identify my deepest self by my wounds – the experiences of my life that have
transformed me.
This is not to say that I had mostly difficult times. In fact,
my life has been “a piece of cake” for the most part. But I recognize that I
learned some painful lessons about myself as I listened to critics,
supervisors, kindly and otherwise correction, etc. And I deepened my spiritual
life and developed compassion for others when I suffered through what could not
be changed about life circumstances.
Thinking about this brings to mind a new
metaphor, the UPC mark. Each line signifies some wound. Taken as a whole, the
mark is unique to each of us. Placed over a Light source such as Jesus Christ,
the Light shining through tells the whole world who we really are.
Sr. Dorothy Schuette, OSB
