Christians have been called upon to see the cross not as something to run away from but as the way of life for every true believer in God.
In his homily at the Good Friday service yesterday, Rev. Fr. Michael Aghadi, SJ, Chaplain, The Divine Physician and St Luke Catholic Church, Idi-Araba, reminded Christians of Jesus exhortation that “if you want to be my disciple, you must pick up your cross and follow me.”
He lamented that many Christians of these days would do anything to avoid the cross even as many, including those who do not believe in God, have turned it (cross) into a fashion accessory.
He spoke further; “the cross was an instrument of punishment, an instrument of death used by the Romans in the time of Jesus. The way someone would feel today with an AK47 pointed at them is how people felt about the cross in the time of Jesus. But when they made the mistake of crucifying Jesus on the cross it changed the meaning of the cross turning it into a scaffold of life.
“How come Christians today will do anything to avoid the cross? Where is the cross in our daily lives, how are we bearing the cross, if at all.
“Today in our prayers we give God ultimatum. The God we follow suffered and died for us. We must be willing to suffer with Christ. We should live for God. Jesus made the cross his royal throne, his pulpit of truth. May we walk bearing the cross of Christ until the day he welcomes us into his kingdom.”
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Speaking also on the significance of Good Friday and Stations of the Cross, Rev. Fr. Jide Arowosafe, SJ, Advancement Officer, Society of Jesus, North West Africa Province, said Good Friday is to celebrate God “who died for each and everyone of us so that we won’t be condemned but rather we would be saved.”
He explained that God incarnated, coming as himself in his son Jesus Christ to mend the breach in the relationship between him and humanity as a result of man’s sin. “It’s a misnomer to hear that in a year one Friday is good among all the Fridays. But Good Friday is good because on this day we celebrate Christ who died for us. He died because he loved us.
“As Christians we know how in the Old Testament God created heaven and earth and then man. He was happy with man but sin came in and there was a breach in that relationship. Jesus therefore came to make the perfect sacrifice to reconcile man back to God.”
On the Stations of the Cross, Fr. Jide said it was a re-enactment of Jesus’ journey from Gethsemane where he was arrested to the cross at Calvary and to the tomb where he was buried.
According to him, “each station of the cross reflects the importance of the celebration and we have fourteen stations which are symbolic. We start with how he was condemned to how he was buried. So as we all journey through this, we reflect on our lives and how God walks with us through our various stations; a walk, not of shame but of love.”
Earlier, some members of the National Federation of Catholic Students (NFS), College of Medicine, Idi-Araba, acted out the stations for the faithfuls of the Catholic Chaplaincy, Idi-Araba.
According to Miss Ekpereka Ezeobi who played the role of Mary, the Mother of Jesus, “it felt very sad watching Jesus being beaten and battered. Horrifyingly sad. When I held him in my arms after he was brought down from the cross I was trembling. It didn’t feel like I was acting at that point.”
