Jesus crucified an example of unconditional act of faith
KOTA KINABALU: In the wee hours of Good Friday, Sabahans had some respite from the prolonged El Nino as light shower came down from the heavens.
With the skyline clear of smog, St Simon Church Likas was filled with eager churchgoers – filling up the main church (some of whom came as early as before 12.30pm when the Church door opens), hall, chapel and the tents erected around the compound.
The rector Fr Cosmas Lee, in the 3pm service, addressed the multitude of faithful with these questions to ponder:
“Is there a God? Is He always faithful no matter what? Has He always, without fail, done His job? Is His mercy faithful, constant – the same yesterday, today and forever for me? How come, then, He seems deaf and dumb a lot of the times when I’m in great distress? When I suffer unjustly and meaninglessly?”
“Let’s not just look at Jesus hanging on the cross, suffering and dying, let us be there with Him, assuming the same view, assuming the same attitude of faith, crying with Him, ‘My God, my God, why have you deserted me?’
He then said: “As we look upon the cross today, these questions we must answer, if we wish to be a disciple of Jesus. If we are to take up our cross everyday to follow Him, to die with Him, so as to rise with Him. There cannot be any compromise. Anything else that is not religion, it is superstition.
“When He knew He would certainly die, and yet He said, ‘In you our fathers trusted; they never trusted you in vain’. And yet He said, ‘Forgive them for they do not know what they are doing’. And yet He said, ‘Into your hands I commend my spirit’. And lastly, ‘It is accomplished’.
“An utterly unconditional act of faith, even when His prayer for life was not answered. But God answered Jesus in a way beyond what He could think of. He asked for life; He died. But God gave Him victory over death itself.
“Not just admiring Jesus today, but one with Him. Let’s also, by the grace of God, make a same act of faith. I will believe, I will trust, even if I die. If we do this, we’ll certainly be resurrected in this life and with Jesus forever in paradise,” the rector said, concluding his sermon.
St Simon Catholic Church Likas 