Today is the most Solemn day of the year for Catholics. It is the day on which Jesus Christ gave His life to redeem all people from their sins. He poured out every drop of His blood to bring us to Heaven.
John 19:34 – But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water.
The piercing of Jesus\’ side is a most profound and meaningful mystery. Saint Thomas Aquinas speaks of it in his Commentary on the Gospel According to John.
Why does the Evangelist add, but when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs? … We are told why they pierced his side, because when the soldiers saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs.
To make sure that Jesus was dead one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear. It deserves notice that he does not say “wounded” but “pierced,” that is “opened,” because in his side the door of eternal life is opened to us: “After this I looked, and lo, in heaven, an open door!” (Rev 4:1). This is the door in the side of the ark through which those animals entered who were not to perish in the flood (Gen 7).
This door is the cause of our salvation; and so, at once there came out blood and water. This is a remarkable miracle, that blood should flow from the body of a dead person where blood congeals. If someone says that this was because the body was still warm, the flow of the water cannot be explained without a miracle, since this was pure water. This outpouring of blood and water happened so that Christ might show that he was truly human. For human beings have a twofold composition: one from the elements and the other from the humors. One of these elements is water, and blood is the main humor.
Another reason why this happened was to show that by the passion of Christ we acquire a complete cleansing from our sins and stains. We are cleansed from our sins by his blood, which is the price of our redemption: “You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things, such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet 1:18). We are cleansed from our stains by the water, which is the bath of our rebirth: “I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses” (Ez 36:25); “On that day there shall be a fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and uncleanness” (Zech 13:1). So it is these two things which are especially associated with two sacraments: water with the sacrament of baptism, and blood with the Eucharist.
Or, both blood and water are associated with the Eucharist because in this sacrament water is mixed with wine, although water is not of the substance of the sacrament. This event was also prefigured: for just as from the side of Christ, sleeping on the cross, there flowed blood and water, which makes the Church holy, so from the side of the sleeping Adam there was formed the woman, who prefigured the Church.
Jesus teaches us the value of suffering with nobility and generosity. Whatever one\’s current state of suffering … hold a crucifix in your hands, look at it closely, and try to understand that He endured all this out of love for all of us.
Dominican Life on Lotus Lane 