Good
Friday: By the Cross redeemed
Homily of
Cardinal Justin Rigali
The Celebration of the Lord’s Passion
Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul
March 21, 2008
Dear People of God,
Back in the fourth century the great Doctor of the Church Saint Cyril
of Jerusalem stated that the Church is proud of all the actions of Jesus,
but that her greatest boast is the Cross. Today, Good Friday, we celebrate
the Cross and above all the One who hangs on the Cross.
In the Old Testament, at Passover, the Jewish people sacrificed a lamb—called
the paschal lamb. On Good Friday we look to the Cross; we look to the
Cross to see the One who has become the Lamb of God. At Communion time
we receive this Lamb of God and before doing so we proclaim: “This
is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.” Today
all our attention is concentrated on Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, who
is immolated on the Cross and becomes our sacrifice. The victim on Calvary
takes away our sins and the sins of the whole world.
In our First Reading, the Prophet Isaiah tells us: “… he was
pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins; upon him was the chastisement
that makes us whole, by his stripes we were healed.” And then Isaiah
explicitly compares Him to the paschal lamb saying: “… the
Lord laid upon him the guilt of us all. … like a lamb led to the
slaughter or a sheep before the shearers, he was silent and opened not
his mouth.”
In his prophecy, Isaiah attests to the redemption that is accomplished
by Christ, the Lamb of God: “… he shall take away the sins
of many, and win pardon for their offenses.”
All this, dear friends, takes place on the Cross. Today we look to the
Cross to find salvation and to profess our faith in the power of Christ’s
Sacrifice. By His death on the Cross, Jesus destroys death. He conquers
the cause of death, which is sin. The humiliation of His death on the
Cross is transformed into triumph and victory, as Saint Paul tells us:
“Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a Cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him. …”
For all the Church, the death that Christ dies becomes the cause of life
and immortality. How beautiful is the ancient chant of Good Friday that
the Church sings today! At the moment that Christ dies, the Church attests
that death has no power over Him: at that moment He is proclaimed as holy,
strong and immortal! By dying He overcomes death. He can die no more and
those associated with His Death are immune from death and will share His
Resurrection.
Today, as we see Jesus the Paschal Lamb die upon the Cross, we proclaim
His triumph and victory. And just as He, with absolute freedom, entrusted
His life to His Father, we entrust ourselves freely to Him and to His
mercy. In the words of today’s Psalm we pray: “ … my
trust is in you, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God. In your hands is
my destiny; rescue me. …’”
All of this means that God’s mercy is available to each of us. Today
is the day that mercy becomes real. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews
exhorts us: “ … let us confidently approach the throne of
grace to receive mercy and to find grace for timely help.”
Friends in Christ: our greatest boast is the Cross! The Cross is the throne
of grace; it is the source of mercy. The One who hangs on the Cross is
our Redeemer and our King. He helps us to overcome sin in our lives and
to live for God in holiness of life.
As Jesus bends down to lift us up, let us reach out to Him and say: Jesus
I trust in you! Amen.