Homily Points

Good Friday

General. On this day we recall the Death of Our Lord Jesus Christ which occurred about this hour. Christ is the new Adam, head of the whole human race. As when Adam sinned, it was the whole humanity that sinned, the same way have all humans of all times died with Christ on the Cross and risen with him from among the dead. This death and this resurrection have taken place in a mystical manner in our Baptism, while our effective union with Christ occurs by means of the Eucharist which also reminds us today in a special manner of the banquet of the Lamb.

Isaiah. Centuries before the coming of Christ on earth, Isaiah foretold that humanity would see the Messiah in quite a different manner than we had ever thought. Indeed, Jesus was down-trodden and abandoned by humanity, and little did we esteem him. He did not come around as a victorious king; rather, to the contrary, he seemed like overcome by earthly powers. He appeared as a chastised person, bruised and annihilated and he had anything but a royal or powerful look. Many were those who were appalled at his appearance and his form was not considered to be that of a human being. He was the Suffering Servant who had to carry upon himself the sins of the world and be chastised on our behalf. He took upon himself our sickness and our sorrow when he was bruised because of our sins and squashed because of our evil inclinations. The divine scope behind all this was so that Jesus Christ may bridge the chasm caused by sin between man and God.

Epistle to the Hebrews. Throughout his life Jesus was entrusted with the mission to fulfil God’s plan for all humanity by dying on the Cross and taking upon himself the sins of the world. For that reason the Cross is the glorious symbol of the Christian since through It and the raising of Christ from the dead, Jesus squashed death and obtained for us entry into the Kingdom of Heaven together with him as our High Priest.

St John. During the Passion recount we see Jesus who enters Death with power and humility yet meanwhile convinced that he is fulfilling the Will of the Father. From the very beginning of the recount Jesus is asking the soldiers who they were looking for and he answers them with power I-am He (Yahweh), a truth told in dire circumstances which can only come from God. Later, on the Cross during the last minutes of his life, Jesus gives us his Mother, Mary, as our Mother too and baptizes the Church with the blood and water which exudes from his pierced side.

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