A TALE OF GOD-MAN ON THE CROSS

Once, a friend asked me “Why do we have the crucifix? In the crucifix, you see a suffering and wounded God. Why do we promote misery? I rather see a triumphant and risen Christ than one who is defeated.” My friend's experience is not far from our experience as we gaze upon a crucifix. 

It displays Christ enthroned on the cross, adorned with a crown of thorns, with hands and feet firmly nailed to its woods, sweat and blood running from Christ head to toe. We see a dying, if not a dead Christ. Other Catholic would not dare to look at it and changed the dying Christ with an image of a risen Christ.  

But does the crucifix exalts death and suffering? As we gaze upon the dead body of Christ, do we simply see a failed cause? If the crucifix promotes brutality and defeats against the evils of this world, then the Catholic faith does too, for the crucifix is the symbol of our Catholic faith for thousands of years. The truth is far from it.

More than defeat, the crucifix is our sure symbol of God’s triumph over death and sin, over pride and anger; the exaltation of God’s love for man. In a crucifix, we see and experience our God who emptied Himself and took the form of a slave; a form of a criminal who suffered the consequences of sins man committed. Christ crucified on the cross manifests the extent of the love of God for man; a love that is willing to do everything for the beloved, even shedding His very own life that man may live.  

As man was tainted by sin and death through Adam’s disobedience and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, so man regained grace and eternal life through the obedience of the new Adam (Christ) and the tree of the cross. By obediently accepting death, death on the cross, Christ atoned for us and gifted us eternal life. Seen from this perspective, a crucifix ceases to be a symbol of suffering and defeatism, but the triumph of God’s love. 

The crucifix is prominently displayed in our churches for a purpose. The crucifix reminds us of the fact that God never abandons us. In our sufferings due to sin, and daily toils of life, God accompanies us. God is with us as we carry our cross. A cross devoid of the image of a crucified Christ is deduced as an instrument of punishment of cruel death. A cross with the crucified Christ is a fitting remembrance of God who suffered and is suffering with us and for us. Through the crucifix, we experience not a distant God, but God who is among us; God who never forsakes us. As we carry our life crosses with Christ, we can be assured that no matter how heavy these crosses are; however painful our sufferings are, they are bearable for they become meaningful through Christ’s abiding presence. With Christ in our struggles, our crosses are means towards a triumphant end; resurrection and eternal life. But when we carry our life crosses by ourselves alone, without Christ, they become punishments to us; meaningless chores and obligations whose immediate end we wish for. The cross is meaningful because Christ embraced it. 

Do not remove Christ from the cross. Let Christ’s presence grace too the life crosses you carry. Embrace your life cross with Christ. Carry your life cross with Christ. It will become your crucifix that will bring you to your glorious resurrection.       

INUNA PA ANG TULOG: LESSONS FROM THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD

In our home, there was a division of labor. I was tasked to boil rice in the evening, whenever my mother come home late from school. Once, it was already 5:00 pm then, and my mother was not yet home. A part of me told me I should boil rice, another told me to take a nap. The latter prevailed. I told myself “Mamaya na yan. Pwede pa naman.” Without me noticing it, it was already half past  six. My father arrived, hungry and tired from work. But there was no food to eat. He asked me for the rice and I could not answer for I missed boiling the rice. And he told me “Inuna mo pa kasi yang tulog.”  

In an obscure way, we sometimes have the mañana habit in life. We tend to postpone or delay something important which we think can wait for the next morning(mañana) or when the next opportune strikes. We do another thing which we prefer to do at that moment. Mañana habit overflows to our religious and spiritual life. Mamaya na ako magbibigay. Saka na ako mangungumpisal. Magserve ako sa Church kapag retired na ako. Saka na ako magpapakabait, enjoy ko muna buhay binata ko. We tend to procrastinate and wait for another chance, even in our faith. Without us knowing, the tomorrow we hold dear might not come.   

In the gospel (Mt 25:1-13), ten virgins set to meet the bridegroom. Five virgins took their lamps but brought no oil with them. That made them fools. Another five virgins brought flasks of oil with their lamps. That made them wise.

The fools preferred to sleep than procure oil.  They attended to less important things and slept, instead of checking their provisions. They were guided by the wisdom of the world: This is what the wisdom of the world teaches us; embrace what is comfortable to you now, avoid sacrifices and sufferings. If you are sleepy, even if you have to attend your lamps, sleep! Bahala na mamaya. Surely, the present is important in as much as it is a gift. But our present dictates our future. If we see ourselves to be in this present world alone, then we have no future in heaven. If we see the material riches as the sole priority of our life, we will never enjoy heavenly vision. If throughout our life we stored oil of earthly treasures, we will have nothing to fuel our spiritual lamps. The wisdom of the world is only good for this world alone but not to the next. The oil of earthy preoccupations we have busy ourselves with are rendered useless in the gates of heaven. The world offers oil of empty joys and temporal benefit. When we thought we are gathering oils that will last until the judgment day, we will be surprised that our vessels are empty of the oil that we needed.

Paul preached about the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1:17-25). What is the wisdom of God? Where can we find it? The wisdom of God is CHRIST CRUCIFIED.  The wisdom of God is manifested through the cross. Though painful, Christ endured being nailed on the cross, in the name of God’s will; in the name of God’s love for man; that man may have life in God. The wisdom of God teaches us that even in the midst of suffering and death, there is God’s comforting presence, there is meaning, there is the joy. Joy in suffering? Love in death? Sound foolish for the wisdom of the world. But the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom.

Through the wisdom of God showed us by Christ on the cross, we can surely procure the oil of good works. It is the oil of good works that ought to fuel our lamps, our life, as Christians to shine not only in the gates of heaven where we shall meet Christ but in the present. Our lamps fueled by our good works ought to shine in the here and the now that we may guide others to the Bridegroom, through the light of good works we illumine. 

The wisdom of God teaches us to continue burning; even if it entails that our material riches and comforts will be consumed, that even our very self will be consumed by the demands of loving others. As the wick of the lamp is consumed, it fulfills its purpose; it shed light in the darkness. As Christ died on the cross, he was able to pour life to us. As we lose the comforts that the wisdom of this world points to us, we gain the wisdom of God; we learn patience and forgiveness as we give up our egotistic tendencies. As we are hurt in giving, we learn the great value of our love. Only through this wisdom, we can prepare whatever we may need, whatever is necessary for our life: the oil of good works.

#RealTalk. Let us admit it. Sometimes in our life, we also fall drowsy in our faith. When an occasion demands honesty, sometimes we are tempted to lie or do nothing that the truth may be revealed. When a situation calls for fervor in our faith, we grow lukewarm if not cold and insensitive. We rather keep ourselves within the confines of our comfort zones, never to endanger our reputations, never to attend to the lamps of faith entrusted to us in our baptism, lamps we ought to keep burning. We live by the wisdom of the world.

The good news for us is that the doors are not yet shut. We still have the opportunity to gather oils of good works and store them in our vessel we call life. Huwag na mamaya. Huwag na tutulog-tulog. Gather oil now, not later, for later might not come. Nasa huli ang pagsisi. We might end up wailing and grinding our teeth outside the gates of heaven, in darkness.