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Friday, April 21, 2006
Two points to ponder
By Rene Lizada
Papa's Table
I WATCHED the re-cut version of The Passion on the night of Good Friday. And like my first article on the movie, I found myself in tears when Jesus meets His mother. His mother rushes to Him and as He falters He says, "See mother I make all things new." That to me was highlight of the film. Despite of the humiliation and the betrayal and the physical pain that Christ was undergoing, He rose above it all to say that He was making things new, making them right.
But there was a scene prior to that which touched me that Good Friday night and it was perhaps a reflection of what I want to be.
When Jesus was handed His cross, He practically embraced it. If you watch the film, you will se that He touched the cross lovingly and even passionately. One of the thieves who were also carrying his own cross screamed at Christ: "why are you embracing your cross?" Jesus did not say a word. He just took the cross in His embrace.
It is a compelling question what the thief asked. Why indeed did Christ embrace His cross? To a lot of us, we try so hard not to have crosses or when we do we try to avoid carrying our crosses. I have talked about crosses before and there is no need to elaborate on that. It is our reaction to crosses that we need to reflect on.
We do not wish to have crosses because they are painful and unpleasant. We want to get rid of our crosses, as they are a burden, a sacrifice and a reality that must be faced. So we run away and avoid our crosses. But sooner or later our crosses will loom and face us because we are unwilling to face them.
There will come a time when we have to face our crosses. But Christ did the opposite thing. Instead of fleeing from His cross He faced it and embraced it. When He was about to be whipped, He took a moment and said, "Father my heart is ready." He was prepared to face the cross. Are we?
What is asked of us is not to merely face our cross but to actually embrace it. To embrace the pain and the unpleasantness of what needs to be faced. To actually take it in our open and stretched hands and feel every strand of it. To take it in full measure. That act by itself goes against all human nature but then again to embrace one's cross is not just a human act but a human act inspired by divine strength and inspiration. Christ drew His strength from the Father as we must draw strength from Christ. We cannot carry our crosses alone. We need a higher power than us; we need something stronger than our crosses. We need Christ.
Our crosses have a nasty way of getting into us maybe because our crosses know where to hit us. Arrogance, pride, lust and greed know exactly what to do. Our pride will puff us up, our arrogance will make us feel superior, our lust will make us hedonistic and our greed will justify itself. And we say this is how I really am. I cannot help it.
And that is the point. I just cannot help it is the ancient excuse. I am just like that and there is nothing I can do. And you would probably be right because there will come a time when the burden becomes too heavy that one will not recognize it any longer. One would think that the burden has become a part of our lives and that is the reason the proud think they are humble, the arrogant think they are always right and the lust filled believe it is but natural. And we get stuck and blind. We think it is natural and all right and normal.
That is where we need Christ. We need Christ to tell us what must be done. We cannot do it alone. Believe me, I tried to do it without Christ and guess where I landed? I tried to take away my crosses without Christ and I ended up worse than before. I, in my delusion thought that I could do it on my own. I ended deeper in the madness in the madness and the futility of myself. While I was The Passion I thought what made Him do that? What made Christ bear the torture and the humiliation? It was His Father, his Father. The love that He had for His Father. He drew power from His Father as should we.
My Easter moment did not come on Easter Sunday. It came on Easter Monday. Surrender is the most courageous one can do.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (April 21, 2006 issue)
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