The Spirituality of a Holy Crossian.

A faithful Christian Catholic always desires transformation. Any spiritual path that does not lead to a real
transformation is useless. At worst, we can fool ourselves into thinking we’re engaged in something
deep when we’re engaged in nothing of substance. A full-blooded Holy Crossian would surely ask, “Am I
transformed?” Surely, cannot fool ourselves the fact, we always search for spirituality that would
transform us.

Spirituality may be understood in different manner but the simplest way to it is to understand it as a
way of life or an engagement with God as God has revealed himself in Jesus Christ. It also has to be
grounded in a religious tradition. The term spirituality refers to both a lived experience religious and
academic discipline. For Christians, it means one’s entire life as understood, felt, imagined and decided
upon in relationship to God, self, others and nature in Christ Jesus empowered by the Holy Spirit

The Spirituality of the Cross

The Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CFC no. 557-559) taught that the Cross is a symbol of saving love.
The cross is the glory of the Christians not because of the suffering that it brings but because of the
Good News that it exalts. The Cross and the resurrection are paired as one saving event in the life of
Christians and it is the central teaching of Christian doctrine and theology. The Cross of Jesus becomes
the saving cross because of the sacrificial submission to offer His life for the Salvation of all humanity,
world and history. This also serves as the summit of the total life story of Jesus. Thus the way of life of a
Holy Crossian is a reflection of this way of life of Jesus Christ on the Cross who is triumphant over all
forms of human evils. Hence the HCDC community of Christ-centered Evangelizers upholds that the
Spirituality of the Cross must always be concretized in our daily life especially in the task of taking care
of the property of God as Jesus did on earth.

The sign of the Cross

The sign of the crossor in Latin, “signumcrucis”, is the shortest prayer that a Christian does. It is a
powerful sign that marks us as children of God who have thrown off the slavery of Satan and embraced
the Cross of Christ as the way to salvation. The Cross destroyed death and hell, and through it, Jesus
redeemed the world. By make the sign of the cross, we acknowledge that he has redeemed us, and that
through baptism we have become the children of God.

Because the sign of the Cross is the mark of our redemption, Satan hates it. Demons flee from
the sign of the cross when it is devoutly made. St. Cyril of Jerusalem (AD 386), Bishop of Jerusalem, says
the following of this powerful sign: “Let us, therefore, not be ashamed of the Cross of Christ; but though
another hide it, do thou openly seal it upon thy forehead, that the devils may behold the royal sign and
flee trembling far away. Make then this sign at eating and drinking, at sitting, at lying down, at rising up,
at speaking, at walking: in a word, at every act.”
 In the sermon of St. Theodore, the Studite: Oratio in adorationemcrucis: PG 99, 691-694,
695,698-99., He said: “By the cross, death was slain and Adam was restored to life. The cross is the glory
of all the apostles, the crown of the martyrs, the sanctification of the saints. By the cross, we put on
Christ and cast aside our former self. By the cross, we, the sheep of Christ, have been gathered into one
flock, destined for the sheepfolds of heaven.”

The Spirituality of the Cross is concretized in Stewardship. Stewardship is simply

rooted on the truth of Creation with its Biblical basis on Genesis 1:1-2:4a and Genesis 2:1-15. Christianity
upheld on the belief that God is the owner of all things that everything is from God and it belongs to
God. GOD is THE CREATOR/TRUE STEWARD, God is the Source of all good things and He manifests
Himself through the goodness of His creation.

A. Human Person: Co-creator, Steward of God’s Creation

God set man and woman over the whole world, and he provided for their well-being and
benefits (Genesis 1.28-30). He also made them stewards of his creation. The Spirituality of Stewardship
is a faithful adherence to the understanding that the human person is created in the image and likeness
of God (Gen. 1:26-27), the human person is called to have an INTIMATE relationship with God (Gen. 2:7),
and he is called to TILL and CARE for GOD’S CREATION (Gen. 2:15). The human person is called to be a
faithful manager of what belongs to God and to others. The human person is therefore accountable to
God, the owner of all Gifts.

B. Jesus Christ: The True Steward

However, humans whom God has entrusted to take care of His creation failed to be a faithful
manager of God’s beautiful Creation (Gen. 3:1-24), Jesus committed to take a stand in the presence of
His Father, He modeled to be the true Trustee of God, He made Himself a Steward in His proclamation of
the Reign-Kingdom of God, He defended life, humans, nature, society against all forms of destruction
even until death and Jesus invited us to follow Him (Jn. 21:15-19)

C. Stewardship as a Spiritual Practice (Gen. 1:28)

Stewardship is simply understood as a way of Life, a call to live a Holy life and a call to become a
Mature Disciple of Jesus. STEWARDSHIP is a Life style that depicts Who and What we are and what we
believe. It is an expression of discipleship with the power to change, understand and live out our lives.

Stewardship as a kind of Spirituality has a purpose of bringing us closer and to a greater

awareness of God and to nurture our relationship with him. It intends for us to cultivate our faith in God,
so that we will make Him as the priority and focus of our lives. As believers of God we have the
responsibility to cultivate trust, so that will submit ourselves to God with confidence that he will always
provide for us and take care of us. With this trust, we then appreciate and be satisfied with all that he
gives us, and use God’s gifts for our own benefit prudently, for the good of others generously, and for
God’s glory ultimately. Presented below is a diagram of Spirituality of Stewardship
Stewardship cannot be seen when it is not acted upon. Since Stewardship is a CALL, it is to be
RESPONDED through the simplest and doable actions in our daily living.
a. CONSERVATION means maximum utilization of resources both Human and material
resources. This would include budget optimization, minimization of expenses (Living
according to Means), wise use of ENERGY – putting off Lights when not in use and water
conservation and many others which avert the truth that resources are now depleted.

b. SIMPLE LIFESTYLE means to become contented with the art of living simply and to be
content with the basic needs without any color of complexities and luxuries. This invites
everyone to live a life according to our means with a simple art of financial management
(Thrifty) and develop a culture of saving and sense of contentment.

c. ECOLOGICAL ADVOCACY means that Holy Crossians are advocates to of the welfare of our
one and only home, the mother earth. Recognizing the great problem faced by the whole
world, the Holy Crossians dreams of a Zero waste environment and targets total waste
management. This would mean segregation from the source and development of 4Rs
mentality (Recycle, Re-use, Reduce and Restore).

d. SPIRITUAL DISCIPLINE refers to the intentional development of authentic Spiritual life and
intimacy with God. This would include values re–orientation according to God’s plan for us
(likeness/ image of God), following the sense of TAKING and GIVING, developing a lifestyle
of sharing of time, talent and treasure, developing a sense of commitment, consciousness
of what is RIGHT and WRONG, developing a hunger for PRAYER. They are called disciplines
because they are to be done consciously and not out of natural intuition, we need to
become conscious in our choice to engage them.

e. CO-RESPONSIBILITY refers to ongoing realization of the spirit of ecclesial communion that is

the fundamental idea of the Vat. II documents. This will bring us to reality that the HCDC is
an institution dreaming to become a community where there is respect of the life and
choices of others, the observance of fraternal correction for transformation and renewal,
thereby bringing others towards the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God and realizing that we
are co-journeyers in the life of faith.