From the rejected stone to the cornerstone

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

THAT stone is, of course, our Lord Jesus Christ. He was rejected by the leading men of his time here on earth. They always tried to find fault in him. He was subjected to all kinds of suspicion. And finally, they managed to crucify him.

And yet Christ is actually our savior, the cornerstone that would put everything in our life together and in order. He is the stone that would give our spiritual edifice, both individually and collectively, its strength, power and effectiveness in achieving its ultimate and supernatural goal.

The rejection of this stone, the rejection of Christ, continues to take place today in spite of the clarity of the identity and importance of Christ in our life. Many of us continue to ignore him, to take him for granted or just to give him a pittance of importance in our life. It’s amazing indeed that in spite of our knowledge about who he really is, many of us continue to practically reject him.

We truly need to be wary of this tendency of ours to effectively dismiss Christ. We may profess to believe in him and to follow him, but very often this profession remains only as such. It’s hardly converted into action, much less, into our life itself. Very often, we are only good in words and intention, but not so much in deeds and lifestyle.

Many of us still prefer to rely on our own powers, our own fortunes and privileges, to chart whatever kind of destiny we like to pursue, as if our own lives are absolutely and solely our own. This may not be professed openly if only to be socially or politically correct. But at bottom, that is what is happening around.

These days, I have seen videos of how former celebrities and big names who enjoyed tremendous popularity in the past end their lives in utter misery. These videos usually have the titles of “The life and sad ending of so-and-so.”

While the final judgments can only belong to God, and while we should always regard these personages in charity, always keeping them in our prayers, we cannot deny that the so-called “sad ending” of their lives is mainly due to their rejection of Christ, if not openly, then practically. We should try to avoid following the same sorry trail in our life.

 

We need to change our ways. Christ is indispensable to us. He is the very pattern of our humanity and the savior of our damaged humanity. He is the one who will lead us to the fullness and perfection of our humanity, since as long as we are still here on earth, we are still being formed and led toward our complete identification with Christ.

To accept Christ in our lives, of course, requires faith, hope and charity, which are gifts given to us by God. But for these gifts to work in us, we need to be humble, to always feel that we come from God and that we belong to him. We need to follow his will. Better said, we need to make his will our will in order to seal that unity of spirit that is meant for us.

To accept Christ in our lives is what would actually constitute as the ultimate piety we ought to have. Our piety should not just be limited to our relation with our parents and with our other loved ones. It has to start and end with God, since without God everything would just be vanity.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com