As my Sunday school students are due to receive the Holy Sacrament
of Confirmation in May, I have been pondering what more I can do for them in
these remaining weeks. I am particularly concerned about enhancing their
understanding of the need to be strengthened and bound more firmly to Christ in
response to the call to a life of true Christian
discipleship. And, to my great delight, they have recently been blessed with
a related learning opportunity.
It was an activity known as “the Modern Man’s Way of the Cross”
organized by the “Association of Lay Catholics in Macau”. It took place on the
morning of Good Friday and involved a long walk from Flora Garden up a flight
of winding stairs to the Guia Hill Muncipal Park, where five spots had been
appointed to serve as the respective five stations. When I got the invitation
for my students to take turns to carry the wooden cross on the Way, I worried
about their lack of interest as teenagers had been used to the comfort of an
air-conditioned environment. Fortunately, I managed to recruit nine volunteers.
Though the weight of the cross was shared by six carriers at each
shift, the walk up the long staircase was quite strenuous especially with the
scorching sun beating down. They were the first to arrive at the assigned
station while the rest of the participants followed them in long queues at a
snail’s pace. On account of the large number of participants, it was quite a
few minutes before everyone arrived and a signal was given for the spiritual
session to start. During the entire time, two of the carriers remained standing
on either side of the wooden cross to keep it standing erect. Seeing their
frowning faces, I kept praying that they would persist till the very end.
To my delight, they showed no sign of quitting. Neither did they
complain about the task. Conversely, as I came to know later, the experience of
the Modern Man’s Way of the Cross had turned out to be a treasurable spiritual
lesson for them, a lesson no less inspiring than any I had taught them in the
classroom. It was, in fact, a lesson on true discipleship.
By helping to carry the wooden cross, my students offered their
service to the other participants, thus contributing to the accomplishment of
the activity. This is one aspect of discipleship as Jesus has taught His disciples to serve one another.
In addition, a true disciple is committed to taking up his own cross
and follow Jesus to the very end. By helping to carry the wooden cross that
morning, my students were guided to enter into Jesus’ sufferings. The
experience of the exhausting walk and the boiling sun has enabled them to
understand better about the agony of Jesus and His selfless love for us mankind.
Most importantly, they were doing evangelical work, too, as they
learned, probably for the first time in their lives, to proclaim their faith in
public, bearing witness to Jesus Christ’s redemptive work. There were
passers-by, for example, who would probably have asked curious questions about
the procession and prayer chanting on loudspeakers. It is said that a true
disciple will reach out to others, tell them the Good News and bring them to
Jesus. My students were, in fact, doing this by participating in this activity.
I can conclude that in addition to the Catechism and Bible knowledge
they have acquired over the past three years, my students will also benefit
from life experiences like the above mentioned one. I, therefore, have
confidence that they are adequately prepared for a new phase of their spiritual
life and that God will continue to bless them with the ability to pursue on the
path that will lead them closer to Jesus as His true disciples.
