Bishop Earl Fernandes celebrated a liturgy of the Passion of the Lord at Columbus St. Joseph Cathedral at noon on Good Friday, April 3.
The liturgy commemorated the Passion and death of Jesus Christ. The Church remembers the three hours Christ suffered and died on the cross from noon to 3 p.m., and liturgies are often celebrated during that time.
No Masses are offered on Good Friday.
The sacrament of the Eucharist represents Christ’s Passion. On the day the Lord’s Passion is recalled as it was accomplished, hosts are not consecrated.
The sacrament of reconciliation was offered at St. Joseph Cathedral beginning at 2 p.m. in the afternoon.
Also during that hour, the Way of the Cross, led by Bishop Earl Fernandes, departed from the cathedral. The two-hour walk, sponsored by lay movement Communion and Liberation, recalls Christ’s journey to Calvary.
The following is Bishop Fernandes’ homily given on Good Friday:
My Dear Friends in Christ,
Yesterday, in his Holy Thursday homily, reflecting on the washing of the feet, Pope Leo said: “John the Evangelist chooses the Greek word upódeigma to describe the event he witnessed: it means “that which is shown before your eyes.” What the Lords shows us … is far more than a moral example. He entrusts to us His very way of life. “
Good Friday invites us to see that which is before eyes – to gaze upon the Cross; to gaze upon the power of sin and the still greater power of God. Saint Bonaventure says that it is always good for us to meditate upon the Cross.
Ecce, homo! ‘Behold the man!’, said Pilate. True enough, the crucified shows us what we, you and I, are capable of doing to each other – of persecuting and killing the innocent – of wounding, through our sinfulness God Himself. The cross confronts us with our penchant for cruelty, indifference, hatred. It invites us to weep over our hardened hearts. How often do we chant at Mass: Kyrie eleison!? How sincere are we when we beg, “Lord, have mercy!”? We should weep and beg for mercy, given what we have done!
We ought to choke on our plea when we realize that the One whom we are begging for mercy — our Kyrios, is nailed before our eyes. Our misdeed is not perpetrated against man alone; it is God we have sought to tear ‘away from the land of the living’. It is He whom we have nailed to the Tree. “Behold, the Wood of the Cross on which hung the salvation of the world.”
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But, if truth be told, at times, we have wanted to finish him off. The chant of the crowd in the Passion — ‘Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!’ – stirs our conscience. For have I not, albeit more subtly, thought likewise? Society is less subtle, more overt. Have I not sometimes wished to cancel God to be free of his demands and my betrayals? Does not secularized society desire to cancel God to do what it would like in the name of liberty and rights, and, in doing so, cancel also those vulnerable people who bear the image of God? When I hear the words of Christ from last night’s Gospel, ‘what I have done for you, you must do for one another’, do I not often turn a deaf ear and attempt to blot what I have seen Him do from my memory?
To fix our gaze on the Crucified is to recognize these three contrasting, apparently facts: my weakness, my rebellion, and God’s patience. It is good for a person, and for a people, to be measured against this. Considered responsibly it can lead us to humility, penitence, and loving fear of God.
I am weak, and I am a sinner. Despite my best efforts, time and again, I return like a dog to its vomit, like a criminal to the scene of the crime. Such an admission can lead to a realization that I need God, because I can’t live “His way of life” without Him. Meditate with the eyes of your heart, on the anguish of His Mother, who knew how to live only with Him. Accept responsibility for this sorrow too – a result of human weakness, human sinfulness. Fix your eyes firmly on the wounds in His hands and His side, and ask, “Who put those there?”
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Second, I must acknowledge my rebelliousness. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel – the three great prophets – all refer to Israel as a rebellious house. Are we any different? We Americans rejoice in our revolution and rebellion against King George? But what should we say of our rebelliousness (rather than docility) against the King of Kings? Focus your eyes upon His pierced side, from which His Sacred Heart, even in death, pours out Blood and Water – for you. How have you rendered homage to the King of Love?
The Reproaches read: “Popule meus, quid feci tibi? Aut in quo contristavi te? Responde mihi. (O my people, what have I done to you? Or how have I offended you? Answer me.)
Quia eduxi te de terra Aegypti: parasti Crucem Salvatori tuo. (Because I led you out of the land of Egypt: you have prepared a cross for your Savior.)
Third, our gaze upon the Cross reveals God’s patience. Patience is that which one is willing to suffer out of love for another. Distracted by phones and screens, we focus our eyes, reflecting on the words of the Prophet Zechariah: They shall look upon me, whom they have pierced: and they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they shall grieve over him, as the manner is to grieve for the death of the firstborn.
Behold, your God who hangs upon the Cross. See with your own eyes how much He loves you and what He is willing to suffer for you! I suppose this is why we call it Good Friday. Even in suffering, we see the absolute goodness of God toward us.