Reflections on the Crucifix (Br Anthony Liew)

Throughout the Lenten season, many of us, Catholics, have been practicing different types of Lenten observances – the traditional ones are fasting, praying and almsgiving. We also often participate in the Way of the Cross in order to “journey” with Jesus Christ to Calvary. Yet, how much have these exercises helped us to get closer to Christ? How much deeper has our faith grown in Christ? Hopefully all these exercises would help us have a personal encounter with Christ which would eventually deepen our relationship with Him.

I personally like to look at the crucifix, especially when I am in the midst of some difficulties or are feeling down. Indeed, the crucifix leads me to ponder on the Way of the Cross that is so related to my life. I always ask myself – “How could Jesus who lived two thousand years ago and thousands of miles away from me still relate to me today?” When I look at the crucifix, it inspires in me the faith to believe that Jesus is truly one with us in our suffering. Through the Incarnation, Jesus came down from heaven and became man – just like you and me but without sin and embraced all our pains and sufferings.

By going through the Way of the Cross, I can truly feel His solidarity with us at every single station. In this way, I am able to relate my own struggles with His. It is very comforting to know that Jesus knows my struggles and is willing to bear with me (cf. Mt 11:28-30). As I ponder the death of Jesus on the cross, his pain and suffering inspire me in the following ways:-

• When His soul was sorrowful to the point of death, He brought His disciples and prayed to our Heavenly Father in the garden of Gethsemane (Mt 26:36-46) – Jesus sets an example for us. In the midst of our struggles, we should continue to pray to God for His strength and grace.
  
  
• He fell three times and each time was more serious than the previous one. Yet, He never gave up and continued His journey until the end for our salvation – Like Jesus, we should never easily give up when facing challenges in our lives, but dealing with them courageously.
  
  
• Despite His chosen disciples betrayed Him, Peter denied Him three times, false accusation from His enemies, people mistreated Him etc, He asked the heavenly Father to forgive them even at the point of His death on the cross – Many of these tragedies (betrayal, denial, false accusation etc) are still happening today in our lives. It is difficult to be like Jesus at times – to forgive those who hurt us. However, to forgive is to be liberated. Instead of being bound by hatred which will eat us up unconsciously, Jesus teaches us to forgive and be liberated.
  
  
• Above all, He was resurrected from the dead. Death has no power over Him any longer (Rom 6:9) - The resurrection of Christ brings us HOPE. If there is no passion of Christ, there would not be resurrection! It is this HOPE that continuously keeps us persevering when we are in the midst of our struggles.

The crucifix, indeed, is a symbol of the victory of Christ for our salvation. Jesus, being truly God and truly Man, knows our human struggles, He would surely continue to be with us till the end of time (Mt28:20). When our struggles seem so heavy to bear, He will give us sufficient grace as He has promised (2 Cor12:9). The question is – Do we have faith to surrender our whole being to Him especially when we are struggling?

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Stay tuned for the next post by Br Jude David on 5th Apr 2010.