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| The Image of the Crucified Christ used for Good Friday Liturgy @ San Juan Bautista Church, Tabaco City, Albay Philippines |
“My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). The
Scripture said that our Lord before he died on the Cross cried out in a loud
voice –“My God, my God why hast thou forsaken me?” Has anyone ever imagined what it is to be
wholly forsaken and to be totally lonely?
Has anyone felt what it is to be abandoned by the one you love? Such is the lot of sinners. God has nothing to do with sin and the person
who sin will experience this desolation.
The Bible said that all men have sinned and was never able to measure up
to the standards of God. And the wages
of sin is death (separation from God, desolation, abandonment), [ Romans 3:23 ,
6;23]. Most of us sometime in our lives
have experienced some form of loneliness or the feeling of rejection. But for someone who have undergone such
humiliation and suffering, the feeling of abandonment is terrible. Christ on that Good Friday, became “sin” for
us in order to offer himself for us a ransom.
These words of our Lord signify the
vicarious nature of his Sacrifice on the cross- “Because Christ also died once
for our sins, the just for the unjust; that he might offer us to God, being put
to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit.” [1 Peter 3;8 Douay-Rheims
version]. We can never truly understand
the mystery of sin, but it is a real experience for all of us. I am often met with looks of scepticism whenever
I tell my friends that original sin has made us all enemies of God. The simple test is this –let us examine our
thoughts, why do we love to do the things we know is contrary to God? Why do we want to gossip and hate our
enemies? Why do we do those things that
are contrary to goodness and sound reason?
Are we meant to be this way?
Original sin has clouded our sense of ourselves and it has clouded the
image of God in us. Darkly through a
glass we see dimly this image, obliterated by shadows. But the image of God though obliterated by
these shadows (sin) is still alive. And being
separated from God because of these shadows (sin) we feel a sense of alienation
and we feel a sense of enmity with ourselves, with our neighbours and with God
our Father. All have sinned and come
short of the standard set for us by God.
But here Christ offered Himself to us as a ransom. He made Himself as the bridge that restored
our friendship with God so that we may regained the blessed status we lost in
Paradise.
But the work of
salvation is a work in progress.
Conversion is a process, salvation is our goal. Salvation is a promise that all converted
received. But it is a process. This is best prefigured by the Sabbath, for
in six days God work but on the seventh day He rested. The history of salvation is also like the
week and the Sabbath. When Christ
preached the gospel and accomplished the work of salvation, He accomplished it
once and for all. That is why the
paschal mystery is the apex of the history of salvation. The whole cosmos and history and time
converged on this event. That is why in
the light of eternity (timeless existence), Christ is the alpha and the omega,
the beginning and the end. He is begins
and finishes the race for us. This whole
process is best expressed by the sacramental life of the Church. Baptism initiates us into the life of Christ
and restores us to our blessed state, and cancels the punishment due to the sin
of Adam and Eve. But this is not a once
and for all event, it is a process; we need to grow and mature and live
perseveringly.
As I grow in my
faith, I began to see that my faith in Christ is best lived within the Church,
for within the Church Christ accomplishes the work of salvation through the
ministration of the sacraments. Baptism initiates
us to Christian life, confirmation strengthens us with the gifts of the Holy
Spirit so that we can fight evil and sin.
Penance offers us the door to reconciliation whenever we fail and
stumble. Priesthood sets apart young men
chosen called by God and the Church to minister to the people of God. Marriage helps Christians to build strong
families and find expression of the union of Christ (Groom) and His Church
(Bride). And finally the anointing of
the sick prepares us for our final journey – death is the last of our enemies
to be defeated, but Christ through His resurrection has defeated death for
us. As we prepare for our final journey
the Church helps us to be at peace in the hope and faith that we shall rise
again on the last day.
Personally, I consider the Crucifix
is one of my favourite sacramental because it expresses the saving and
redeeming work of Christ. This is in
fact the meaning of the Mass. Every time
we celebrate the Eucharist, we proclaim His death till He comes again. That is why the crucifix is one of the most
important paraphernalia in the celebration of the Mass. It should be place at the center, the symbol
and focal point, as in “ad orientem”, facing to the east. For Christ is our sun, the rising and our
hope. It sad to note that in some of our
churches the crucifix has been banished into the sideline and in some have all
together disappeared. Perhaps because of
the mistaken notion that the crucifix causes fixation with suffering. They said that Filipinos are so fixated with
the images of suffering that is why they say we are not emancipated. To me this is a wrong notion. Perhaps this idea of removing the crucifixes
at the center of our liturgical celebrations is a product of an academic
thesis, but the crucifix is the potent symbol of our redemption. It is the image that symbolizes the heart of
our salvation. Just as Moses raised up the
image of a serpent on a tree that healed the Israelites, so Christ (His Corpus)
crucified on a tree raised up on calvary, provides healing for all of us. For Christ’s crucifixion is not a defeat, it
is the symbol of victory. For on that
tree Christ on our behalf redeemed us, and with that once and for all sacrifice
offered Himself to God as a propitiation for our sins. It satisfied and pacified the Divine
indignation against sin, for God is Holy and He is a consuming fire. With Christ hanging on a Tree the divine
indignation is pacified and once more we are made friends with God.
For how shall I thank the Lord for all
the things He has done for me – I will take the chalice of salvation and praise
the Lord. For even if I walk in the
shadow of death, I will trust in the Lord.
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