I remember once when I was much younger, my cousin and I were with aunt who was a kindergarten teacher. She was preparing arts and crafts for her class while my cousin and I were talking. My cousin then asked whether school is becoming more difficult. Before I could answer, my auntie chimed in, “There is nothing easy about studying. What is good and beautiful passes through difficulty.” (These words are better expressed in Filipino, lahat ng maganda dumadaan sa hirap).
So much for an eight-year-old boy! Yet that advice proved to be useful. I was not deceived into thinking that school would be a rocket blast to success. Even an ‘average’ student would need to exert effort, and sometimes effort upon effort. And as we grow older, we come to understand this more completely. If there is something worth doing, it is worth spending our greatest effort for.
The same is true of the Christian life. As St. Paul today writes in the First Reading, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”
The Way of the Cross
If life alone has its own headaches, how much more living this life as a Christian, as a follower of Christ whose way is the Way of the Cross?
This is not something that we are inclined to. If we were to invent a religion for ourselves, it probably would not be Christianity. We are inclined to what is pleasurable and comfortable and we would probably create a religion that asks less of us, something like a childish dream of a school without homework.
Yet, our faith places the Cross before us, and like St. Paul, we too, are called to know “nothing except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” And this is s not merely theoretical knowledge, but we are to actually live it in different ways and in different degrees, choosing to let the mystery of the Cross to enter our lives.
When Christ asks us to deny ourselves, to let go of our plans and surrender to God, isn’t that already a cross to carry? Or how about when are to forgive those who injured us, it may sound easy and understand the peace that comes out of forgiveness, but actually forgiving can be still painful. Isn’t it already a cross to bear?
Our Path and a Cross
This why Christianity cannot be reduced to simply becoming nicer people. Christ calls us to follow Him, to go where He goes, to act the way He acts. And we follow Him who was crucified. If we truly follow Him, then we should not be surprised when our own path sometimes involves a cross.
This does not mean that we should suffer only for suffering’s sake. We must be willing to accept whatever sacrifices and detachments God asks of us, knowing that through this we are being configured more closely to Christ. How blessed we would be, if we empty ourselves out, truly “knowing nothing”, for we shall then be filled with Christ.
Today, let us ask for the grace to remain faithful to Christ in whatever difficulty and challenges He permits. May we accept our own cross, with dignity and submission to the holy will of God. For every good thing passes through difficulty, but for us Christians there is something more: every difficulty offered at the altar of the cross can become a means by which we are conformed more closely to Christ. It is through the Cross that we become truly like Christ.
Fr. Jasper, thank you for
sharing. I recently completed my Cursillo weekend in North Carolina. The spiritual guidance and Rollos provided as our guide to become more pious and develop a deeper Christian relationship with the Trinity, Mary and the Saints is hard to understand and act on. Your write-up connected with my spirit and mind and it will help with letting go of doing “me,” and learn to seek God’s ways over mine, especially when I am experiencing difficult, hard life choices. Jesus, I trust in you! St. Faustina taught me this during the 89th Cursillo.
God bless!