I got this privilege of attending my first Lenten recollection this year with Bro. Arun Gogna, a Kerygma preacher, as speaker at Casiciaco Recolletos Seminary last March 18, 2011 with the theme: Recollection, Healing, Forgiveness. Bro. Arun Gogna spoke about the two kinds of crosses – Cross of Rejection (Hestas’ Cross) and the Cross of Reconciliation (Dimas’ Cross). Here are some important points and personal reflections I got from it.
Cross of Rejection – Hestas’ Cross
We reject Christ when...
1. We choose self-righteousness. When we claim that we are all-knowing, we stop learning, thus failing to gain wisdom. Pride resides in our hearts. When we are very much self-righteous, we are in danger of giving judgement to others forgetting that we, too, committed mistakes in our lives. And though we may think we have sinned less than the others, we should not be blinded by our own prejudice as we do not know the heart of the other. Always remember that Jesus came for the sinners. He loves sinner as much as the righteous. It is so sad that many times, we look others with rejection as we are too focused on our own “perfection.” Hestas was self-righteous. While he was hanging on the cross, his pride made him insult the Savior when he doubted Jesus’ identity as the Messiah. He challenged Jesus to save Himself. He was not able to recognize his Savior.
2. We choose to hate rather than wait. Bad things may happen but the greatest miracle God is actually doing everyday is drawing good from evil. A lot of times, our miseries make us hate life, ourselves, other people and even God. Hate takes over us and we eventually fail to see the good that is unfolding from unpleasant situations. We forget that there is a God Who is simply there working amazingly for our own good. When we are angry, God understands. He patiently waits for us. He wants to listen. When we go near Him even with all these negative feelings that we have, He is pleased because we are honest. He will make us understand and turn the negative to something positive...if only we go near Him.
3. We choose to procrastinate. Maybe it is culture. Maybe it is just a bad habit. But we are so full of it. We love postponing things. Is it laziness? The enthusiasm we have easily wears out in us and then we delay the things we ought to do. We need to keep in mind that time is really valuable. It is not because we are young that we have all the time in the world. We do not know when we will be called “home’ so whatever we need to do at the moment, we should do. We do not want regrets in our lifetime.
4. We always complain. Let us not be a problem expert. Problem experts are people who always see problems and focus too much on that. They are negative thinkers and result to self-pity and depression. The problem is too big that sometimes even solutions become problems. Be a blessing expert instead. It may be our habit to always see things on the darker side but we have to break such inclination. We must always remind ourselves that our blessings outnumber our problems. There are a lot of things to thank God for. And when we focus on our blessings, more blessings are poured out for us. There will be better days when we welcome blessings.
Cross of Reconciliation – Dimas’ Cross
1. When we respect God as God. We have to understand the role of God in our lives. Recognize that we are His children. When we do, we should believe that sin does not suit us.
2. When we admit our guilt. We have to take responsibility of our sins. We know that there are consequences to our actions and we have to accept and face them with all humility.
3. When we confess Christ. Make it a habit to praise Christ.
