How to be another Christ

NOW that we are in the Lenten season, we can observe,
thanks be to God, the practice of making the Way of the Cross more
often in many churches. This is usually done not only individually,
but also collectively, as in by families, organizations,
neighborhoods, etc.

            Let’s hope that this practice persists and spreads. But
what I would like to happen also is that those who do it develop the
habit of meditating on the different stations of the cross or the
passion of Christ, since in there can be found, at least via a
glimpse, the key to how one can be truly another Christ, as we should
all aspire to be.

            The whole message of the Way of the Cross or the Via
Crucis may be summarized in that passage of the Letter of St. Paul to
the Galatians where he says: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is
no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now
live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and
gave himself for me.” (2,20)

            These words describe to us how we can be another Christ.
And that is simply by imitating Christ in giving ourselves to God and
to all the others, just as St. Paul said of Christ, who loved and gave
himself for all of us.

            Yes, St. Paul’s “qui dilexit me et tradidit semetipsum pro
me” (who loved me and gave himself for me, referring to Christ) should
always be on our mind. We should try to make this a fundamental
attitude in our life.

            With God’s grace, we have to learn to give ourselves to
God completely and to all the others irrespective of whether the
others deserve it or not, or whether they are friendly or hostile to
us. We just have to give ourselves to them.

            In this we have to practice a lot of patience,
understanding and compassion, not minding if we can get something in
return from the others or not. We just have to give ourselves. We
should find joy in this, no matter what the suffering involved.

            This is how we can identify and unite ourselves with the
mind and heart of Christ. This is the kind of goodness and love that
can overcome any kind of evil in this world. So, everyday let us give
ourselves to the others as freely and as gratuitously as possible.

            This may sound like madness if understood simply in human
terms. But let’s have faith in Christ’s example and in St. Paul’s
words. If we truly have such faith, we can be sure that nothing in
this world can affect us badly, no matter how bad things can be.

            We should just give ourselves to God by obeying his
commandments, no matter how inconvenient or foolish they may seem. And
we should just give ourselves to the others by serving them in any way
we can, and and by understanding them even if they have offended us.

            This is the clear key of how to be another Christ.