Attending the recent 25th Anniversary of Singles for Christ and participating in the Pre-ICON activities and the International Conference in Manila, I have asked the Lord in prayers to speak to me and give me the grace to be more sensitive and attentive to his message. It was the message of the Cross – embracing the Cross.
I was amazed on how the Lord truly reaffirms this call that He has given me. I was reminded of a reflection I wrote almost a year ago when the Lord spoke to me about embracing the Cross after having visited one of my lower household’s teaching. They had the household topic of “When Helplessness Means Blessedness.”
Here is the reflection:
It was a moment of reaffirmation and reassurance for all of us. We were reminded again of the reality and significance of the cross in our lives especially in our Christian faith. There is the reality that each of us has a cross to carry. It could be temporary or will last a lifetime until we reach our ultimate goal, which is heaven. There is the lesson that Jesus is continually teaching us: to embrace our cross for it will lead us to our salvation.
It gives comfort knowing that I am not alone. It is not that I am happy to know that my brothers have crosses, sufferings or problems too. I hope and pray that they are always okay and unburdened. But the cross is a reality of life and it gives so much hope and reassurance to all of us that we are not journeying alone in this life, this path to heaven. We have our brothers and sisters, also carrying their cross, walking with us and striving to reach the same destination.
Jesus, in His way to purchase our salvation, has shown us the perfect example of embracing the cross. Human as we are, we feel the pain and burden. With the hedonistic culture of the world, we have focused so much in search of what can make us feel happy, what can make us always feel good. Worst of it all, we settle to temporary escape from our crosses. Jesus endured the way of the cross until the end to save us. The Lord had fallen three times to the ground and still rose up. We are to face our crosses. We are to embrace them. We will fall. Yes, many times we will fall but we have to stand up.
Also, we have to remind ourselves that it is okay to ask or receive help. Most of the times, we tend to just keep our struggles to ourselves as we don’t want to burden others of our load and worse is feeding our pride telling ourselves we don’t need others’ help. Jesus, in the way of the cross, accepted the help of Simon of Cyrene to carry His cross and let Veronica wipe His face. God humbled himself by accepting help from others. We have to ask for the grace of true humility. We can not journey in this earthly life alone. We are to help one another. We are made for communion.
Most of the times when we pray, we thank the Lord for all the good things he has done for us. We too have to be thankful for the crosses that we have. As true Christians following Jesus’ example, we should embrace the cross. Let us regard every challenge, struggle or problem as a blessing from the Lord. Let us face and embrace them and take that difficult and dark moment as our share to our Lord’s suffering in the cross.
We have learned from the Christian Life Program Talk 2 Who is Jesus Christ that he cross is both a language that communicates the weakness of our human nature, discloses our sins and reveals our errors, and conveys our desperate need for redemption and a parable that tells a story and provides a lesson.
The recent ICON have shown us the Cross as a parable that tells us the story of God’s Relentless Love for all of us. Looking through the 25 years of Singles for Christ, we the Singles for Christ of the next 25 years and more have a strong stand post to anchor ourselves to as we continue our journey of carrying and embracing the Cross.
With the new direction that we are called as Singles for Christ, which is to embrace not only the single unmarried men and women but most importantly also our brothers and sisters that are single parents, widows or widowers, singles struggling with same-sex attraction, and those young adult divorced, annulled and separated, we are called to fully embrace this Cross – not so much as a cross of burden but a Cross that speaks of God’s Relentless Love! We are to embrace and share God’s Relentless Love!
The fourth session of ICON that included the Solemn Re-commitment and Passing on of the Cross to each chapter was the highlight of it all. It has rekindled all the gifts that the Lord has blessed us with, personally and as a community. And it put our hearts ablaze, empowered to fulfill the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to us!
Once again, we are reminded:
“For this reason, I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands.” (2 Timothy 1:6)
“Solemn Charge. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingly power: proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but, following their own desires and insatiable curiosity, will accumulate teachers and will stop listening to the truth and will be diverted to myths. But you, be self-possessed in all circumstances; put up with hardship; perform the work of an evangelist; fulfill your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:1-5)
“We adore Thee, O Christ, and bless Thee.
Because by Your holy cross You have redeemed the world.” Amen.
Aldin Francis Canobas
SFC Calgary AB Canada
