“They opened his side….” Described in this succinct and clear way, as though that soldier was wanting to assure himself that there was not one drop of tenderness within him that had not been poured out.
“They opened his side….” And his side remained open. When something remains open, it is easy to come in and go out. Through this opening there came blood and water….
The last drops of life…. And, days later, through the opening, entered the hand, the fear and doubts of Thomas.
We have made much of “being open,” a glorious label that is more connected with the head than with the heart: an understanding of the latest ideologies, of change, knowing the demands of youth…. But to have one’s “side open” is something that is more costly than this, because entry is free and can lead to discomfort, can allow the other person, someone who is different, to come in and to remain, to occupy a place, to demand change, to beg for friendship, to be allowed to come in with their different ideas, different cultures, with their weaknesses, their concerns, their sufferings … and if they come in, they might oblige us to go out to look for more food.
A lance “opened the side of God” and it remained open…. It could not remain closed…
To have a heart like his can mean a heart with right of entry for the stranger, for the weak, for the sick, for the politically persecuted, for those wounded by war, for the little ones, for the brothers and sisters who think differently.
And a heart that is open, like that of God, also allows blood, water, tenderness, friendship and total gift, to flow out….
Our Spirituality |The Sacred Heart Spiritual Tradition
