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Take up your Cross and follow me

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Take up your Cross and follow me

Who is Jesus Christ for the World? He is preached on many
street corners, in the marketplaces, publicly and privately.
Many in the world see Jesus as a teacher, a guru, a prophet, a
nice guy who preached love for God and others, and peace for
all. Religion sometimes will not portray Jesus in a proper way,
leaving a void about Jesus, that fantasy sometimes fills up.

Who is Jesus for us? Who is He for each of us? As Christians,
we believe that He is the Messiah, the Anointed One of God
who has come to give us the Good News of salvation. He is the
Way and the Life to all of us. But the Way Jesus teaches us is
not an even and smooth path. The path Jesus shows us is a
path of denying oneself, a path that comes with a cross, losing
oneself for his sake.

For us, Christians, Jesus Christ invites us to take up his Way.
However, it is not enough to know the Way of Jesus, for what
merit is there if we only know the way to life and never follow
it? Knowledge of his Way doesn’t give us the assurance that
we will experience the life Jesus promises. St. James invites
us to ponder, “What good is it if you say you have faith but do
not have works??” (Jam 2:14). Our belief in Jesus without good
works has no power to save. Our faith in Jesus goes hand in
hand with the works we perform. Faith is the root of good
works, a root that produces nothing is dead. Hence, as
Christians, we have to bear fruit. Our faith is not meant to be
ornamental. As Christians, we have to resemble a fruit tree that
bears fruit abundantly. Jesus himself after showing the way of
the cross followed it, fulfilling everything that was said of Him:
“I gave my back to those who struck me, and my cheeks to
those who pulled out the beard… I did not hide my face from
insult and spitting” (Is 50:6).

Sacrifice is a vital part of our Christian faith, and sacrifice
comes by way of works towards our neighbour. To follow Christ
is to deny oneself; Christ’s sacrifice invites us to sacrifice
ourselves and serve our neighbour.