The Cross - Good Friday Homily

The Liturgy of Good Friday brings all Christians face to face with the Cross of Christ and we should never reduce it to a mere symbol. Instead we should accept the cross for what it was meant to be- a brutal instrument of terror, torture and death imposed by humanity’s propensity towards cruelty and violence. Before the cross was a symbol of our faith it was a weapon to foment fear and accomplish subjugation.

This is the truth about the cross but because God in Christ accepted the cross and conquered it through his divine love, we Christians do not fear the cross, but instead we hold it up, display to all those worldly powers that would use fear and threats as a means of coercion and control. We hold up the cross, as a taunt to the fallen powers of the world proclaiming to them- you think this frightens us?

God in Christ overcame the horror of the cross and in this sign the fallen powers of the world are subverted, sin, death and the devil are vanquished. It is in this sign, the sign of the cross, that we see the victory of God in Christ is assured!