Monday, September 9, 2013

Take Up Your Cross



“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.”
-Lk. 14:27
            
Being a disciple of Christ entails a great sacrifice. Jesus demands that one must deny himself, take up his cross and come after Him in order to become His disciple. Taking up one’s cross is usually seen as burdensome. It is a sacrifice, a suffering and a shameful act. Just like in the early times, the Romans punished the criminals by crucifying them on a cross. Jesus underwent this punishment. As shown in the movies where the passion of Christ was enacted, one can clearly see the burden of Christ from the moment when he was crowned with thorns until His last breath while hanging on the cross.
            In this present time, the demands of Jesus are contradictory to the aspirations of many people. Many people are so busy working hard. They are exhorting any means to accumulate wealth and power that they may live comfortably. Yes, people desires comfort the most; not suffering; not burden. Now, who would want to take up a cross? Who would want to suffer? Who would want to be a disciple of Jesus?
            The problem with taking up one’s cross does not really lie in the act itself but with the negative perspective of carrying a cross. The burden, the difficulty, the sacrifice and the shameful act of carrying the cross is more highlighted and emphasized rather than the true essence of carrying the cross. These negative perceptions discourage people to carry the cross. So, why do we need to carry a cross? Why did Jesus, being God, let Himself be crucified on a cross? Why did the Father let His only Son to suffer on the cross?
            Jesus bore all the sufferings because it is clear to Him what he was doing (although it was depicted that He has some questions but this arise because of the tendency of His human nature). He knew how heavy the cross was and how painful to be nailed on the cross but at the same time He was aware that He was doing something greater else; greater and more important than those sufferings. He did not let Himself be consumed with the negative aspect of carrying the cross but rather He was inspired with the positive aspect of it. He was doing the greatest act of LOVE. From the Gospel of John 15:13, it says there that “there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for a friend.” This was not for Himself but for the forgiveness of sins of mankind that they may have eternal life. Carrying the cross, as Jesus demanded in order to become His disciple, does not necessarily mean to suffer and to sacrifice but more importantly to love in the best way as possible.  There is nothing difficult for the one who love (This may sound better in Filipino and more common to Filipinos: Walang mahirap sa taong nagmamahal). Besides, just as “gold is tested by fire, so is a strong man by adversity.”                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           
            Furthermore, the sign of the cross is the sign of the Catholic faith. As in every prayer, it always begins by making the sign of the cross: “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” The cross is the sign of faith. Taking up one’s cross may also mean living out one’s faith not just in words but more importantly in deeds. The summary of the Catholic faith can be seen in the Trinity: God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. But, how do we understand the Trinity? Well, no man here on earth can have a clear grasp of the concept of the Trinity. Even Fr. Antonio Aureada, O.P., who is a professor of the Doctrine of the Trinity in the UST Faculty of Sacred Theology, admitted at the end of the course that no matter how he tried his best to research about the Trinity, it always remains to be a mystery. There was once a professor who was asked, what is your understanding of the Trinity? He answered: “Honestly, I cannot understand; but I’m certain of one thing, that their relation to one another is LOVE.” Truly, the Catholic faith is all about LOVE. Moreover, every Catholic is called to obey the commandments of God which can be summarized by the two greatest commandments: to LOVE God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit and to LOVE your neighbor as yourself. The bottom line of the commandment is to LOVE. Indeed, taking up one’s cross,as Jesus demanded in order to become His disciple, may imply vagueness, ambiguity, and dilemma. But what is clear is that, taking up one’s cross is simply to live one’s faith through words and actions; that is to LOVE God and your neighbor as yourself.
            Finally, to further encourage everyone to take up his own cross, one must look closely at the crucifix. The crucifix reminds every one of the gospel passage from John 3:16, “For GOD so LOVE the world that He gave His only Son, that they may not perish but have an ETERNAL LIFE.”Now, observe! What are the two letters which can be derived from the shape of the crucifix? One is ‘t’ for the cross and the other is ‘y’ for the body of Christ. TY or YT. This stands for Thank You, You’re There.  Man should be grateful for the love of God. This then invites everyone to reciprocate that love by taking up one’s own cross, by following Christ and become His disciple…in short to LOVE as well!

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