18 April 2025.
Below is the full text of the homily delivered by Father Brillis on Good Friday at Sacred Heart Church, Kainakari, Kerala.
Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ,
Yesterday we celebrated Maundy Thursday. Today, on Good Friday, as we honour the memory of Jesus's death for us on the Cross, I
would like to share three related dimensions with you.
In the first reading, we hear from the Book of Genesis, chapter 22. Abraham takes his only son Isaac and journeys to Mount Moriah to offer a sacrifice to God. Next, we read from the Book of Isaiah, chapter 53, in which the sufferings to be borne by Christ, the Messiah, are foretold by the Prophet Isaiah. Thirdly, we hear from the letter to the Romans, chapter 5, in which St Paul describes what Jesus accomplished for us by his death.
Let me begin by sharing the significance of what Jesus did for us. John 3:16 describes how God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that no one should perish. Not one who loved him, who was called according to His plan, would perish but would have eternal life; to this end, God loved man and gave his 'only Son'. In Genesis 22, God asks Abraham to journey with his 'only son'. On the way, the son asks Abraham, "Father, look, here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham replies, “My son, God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering.” (Genesis 22:8) That is what we saw in John 3:16. God himself gave his only Son for us and for our salvation. In Romans 5:6-10, St Paul tells us that, "When we were still helpless, at the appointed time, Christ died for the godless. You could hardly find anyone ready to die even for someone upright; though it is just possible that, for a really good person, someone might undertake to die. So, it is proof of God's own love for us, that Christ died for us while we were still sinners..."
If someone from 2000 years ago were to come here today and see us walking, holding the Cross, they would think we had lost our minds, because at that time death on the Cross was the most disgraceful death a man could ever be sentenced to (Gal 3:10-14). Yet through the death of Jesus on the Cross, what was most disgraceful turned out to be the sign of salvation for each of us. Jesus received all our sins in his own body. As St Paul says in his letter to the Hebrews, God the Father gave Jesus a soul and a body to fulfil this particular purpose. He received all our sins, died in our place, and said, "It's me, not them". That is what God did for us.
I recall an incident that happened in February 1941. Hitler had murdered around 2 million Jews in Auschwitz, Poland. I have visited that place many times. We cannot bear to stand there. In those days, there was a rule in the concentration camps. If any prisoner escaped, ten of the remaining prisoners would be punished. They would be locked in a very small room and starved to death.
One day, as part of this punishment, one of the prisoners was led out of his camp. He began to cry out with all his heart and voice, "My wife and my children! For God's sake, please allow me to live! " A priest present heard his cry. He said to the soldiers, "Please, let this man go; I will die in his place. I’m willing to come." The man who replaced him that day was the great saint Maximilian Kolbe.
On August 14, 1941, St Maximilian Kolbe died after surviving two weeks of starvation. Correctional officers ended his life with a lethal injection of carbolic acid. News spread, and the days of World War Two continued.
However, it was only many years later, when a man appeared on television, that the world learned the true reason Maximilian Kolbe had died. Reporters came to the House of Franciszek Gajowniczek. They found him unable to speak, in tears. He took them to a portico in his garden, where a marble statue had been erected in honour of St Maximilian Kolbe. I too have been there. Below the statue, he had these words inscribed: "In my place, he died for me. Therefore, I live today.” For the rest of his life, he remembered that truth, tearfully and gratefully before God, each day that “in my place he died.”
This is what Christ Jesus has done for us too. One man died for us; that is why we are alive today. And not only for this present life, but because of Christ's death on the Cross, anyone can enter into eternal life. Jesus bore all our sins, stood as our defender, and said, “It is not him; it is not her; it is I who did it." Thus, he accepted the Cross and gave his life upon it. That is our Lord Jesus. None of us can forget this.
Without Calvary, there is no Easter. To celebrate Easter, we must climb Mount Calvary. Only then can we experience the Risen Christ. St Paul goes further, saying in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ… Yet it is no longer I, but Christ living in me.” Only then will our life be one with the Risen Christ. Some people may say that since Jesus died for them on the Cross 2000 years ago and rose again, it is not significant today and that they do not need to remember it now. No. We need to learn how to live each day looking at
the Cross of Jesus. I must understand that what I am today is because Jesus died on the Cross and gave me life!
The second point concerns the significance of the Cross. I already mentioned that someone from Jesus’s time might think we are mad to carry the Cross. But we must understand the Cross’s power. In 1 Cor 1:18, St Paul says, “The message of the cross is folly for those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us who are on the road to salvation, it is the power of God.” All wisdom and knowledge are found in the Cross. We receive divine Wisdom from the Crucified Christ. St Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “I was resolved that the only knowledge I would have while I was with you was knowledge of Jesus, and of him as the crucified Christ."
In the Church, we cannot study anything without mentioning two famous saints: St Thomas Aquinas and St Bonaventure. St. Bonaventure was known as the Seraphic Doctor, and St Thomas Aquinas as the Angelic Doctor. They were close friends. Once, while they were studying together in Paris, Thomas asked his friend about the secret of his profound wisdom. Bonaventure replied by taking a Crucifix from his pocket and showing it to Aquinas, “Here it is”. It is said that the face of the Lord on his Crucifix had been worn
away by countless tender kisses.
I would like to share another incident that bears witness to the profound power of the Cross. Cardinal Jean-Marie Lustiger (archbishop of Paris from 1981 until his retirement in 2005) once told a story in his homily about a group of boys in Orleans, France, in 1939. The boys wanted to have a bit of fun and dared each other to go into the church and, in the confessional, confess a made-up list of terrible sins to the priest. One of them, a Jewish boy named Aaron, took up the challenge.
So, he marched into the confessional, but the priest, both wise and holy, immediately knew what he was up to. Without showing any annoyance, the priest gave him a simple penance: to go up to the altar, kneel before the large image of Jesus crucified, and say three times, “Jesus, I know you died for me. But I don’t give a damn.”
“Hah! Easier than I thought,” Aaron told himself. He went up to the altar to do his penance. “Jesus, I know you died for me, but I don’t give a damn,” he shouted.
“Jesus, I know you died for me, but I don’t give a damn,” he declared for a second time.
“Jesus, I know you died for me, but I don’t give …” He could not go on.
The following year, in August 1940, Aaron was baptised and took the name “Jean-Marie.”
“And,” Cardinal Lustiger concluded the story, “that boy is standing here now, speaking to you.” That is the power of the Holy Cross.
When we look at the Holy Cross, we see God’s power, his love and grace, flowing as it were from a fountain of Grace. There is no salvation without looking at the Cross. We must spend at least some time each day praying before the Cross. Then we will receive many blessings in our lives. The Way of the Cross is not merely an annual spiritual practice.
I remember one of my friends, a doctor, sharing this with me. He is a young man, very spiritual and a very successful businessman. He told me, "Bro, I had a lot of obstacles in my life, and do you know how they were removed? Every day, early in the morning, I rise to pray and meditate on the Way of the Cross." What he said surprised me. It also challenged me as a priest, as it was not something I did. Yet, having ministered in many churches around the world, I have seen, especially on Fridays, many holy people piously offer their devotions before the Cross. It has often been a moving spiritual experience for me.
Thirdly, how should we follow the Crucified Christ? Today we heard from Luke 23:36, and we may start with Luke 9:23, “Take up your Cross daily and follow me.” I like the word “daily”. Jesus did not say ‘monthly’, ‘weekly’, or ‘yearly’, but ‘daily’. All of us have Crosses. Today we recited the Way of the Cross. Whenever we recite the Way of the Cross, some parts touch us. Today, what touched me was this: “Lord, the cross that I carry is heavy too. Many times, I feel crushed beneath its weight, and I have fallen over.” These are meaningful words.
Who among us sitting here doesn’t have Crosses, trials or difficulties? All of us have.
St Paul asked the Lord three times to take away his pain, his Cross. But the Lord appeared to him and said, “You need only my grace; my power is at full stretch in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:8-10). So too for us: in the face of trials, when we hold them close to Jesus and move ahead, our lives become meaningful. Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen said, “Every soul has a price tag on it.” We all know what a price tag is. In the shop, every item has a price tag. Someone must pay that price. St Augustine said of his mother, “For 23 years, she turned all the blood in her heart to tears, and I am the fruit of that.” That was the price paid for his soul. Not only that, in the bigger picture, Scripture tells us through St Peter that each of us was purchased not with anything corruptible, like silver or gold, but at the price of the precious blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:18,19). In our lives too, when difficulties or trials come, we must not run away or sink into self-pity; rather, we should say, with St. Paul in Col 1:24, “It makes me happy to be suffering for you now, and in my body to make up all the hardships that still have to be undergone by Christ for the sake of his body, the Church.”
So too for us, let us understand that all the trials and difficulties we face in our lives, whether illnesses, financial crises, family struggles, or problems with our children, will bear fruit. When we are neglected, rejected, or unjustly persecuted, let us remember St Paul’s words in 1 Peter 2:19: “You see, there is merit if, in awareness of God, you put up with the pains of undeserved punishment.” That merit and blessing is the consideration and regard God has for us in every sorrow and rejection. Let us not forget this.
Today, on Good Friday, as we contemplate the sufferings of Jesus, let us, like St Paul, ‘be crucified with Christ’ and remember daily what Jesus has done for us. May the Cross of Jesus be our strength. We heard the prayer, ‘Lord, by the Cross You have redeemed the whole world’. May we understand the power of the Cross.
I have worked in the Middle East for around 30 years. One thing has always astonished me and reminded me of the power of the Cross. In none of the Churches in the Gulf is the Crucifix allowed to be erected outside. How greatly the Devil fears the Cross! In some countries, bringing the Cross or the Rosary is restricted. In some places in Europe, including France, the Cross was asked to be removed from schools and public squares.
I would like to conclude this homily with one more incident.
A family very close to me owns one of the world’s leading hospitality management groups. They have many resorts of international calibre. They are 7 brothers, and one of the brothers’ wives shared an incident with me that I found very touching.
It was in the early days of establishing their institution. They were undergoing an external examination to assess their eligibility for a five-star rating. After the evaluation, the team was very pleased with them. However, at the reception, they saw a Crucifix, and one of the officers pointed out that, since it was a public place, installing the Crucifix there would be a barrier to obtaining the five-star rating. Immediately, one of the brothers standing there, who was very spiritual, spoke up and said, “Sir, with star or without star, that Crucifix will remain there.” He was neither afraid nor ashamed to profess his faith; on the contrary, that very day they received the five-star rating. Today, they are growing worldwide.
In our lives, too, when situations arise, we must not hesitate or ever be ashamed to bear witness to our Crucified Lord. If we do so, one day when we stand before Jesus, we will hear him say, “Come, you beloved of my Father, come into the kingdom prepared for you from the beginning of the world.”
May we be blessed to enter the Kingdom of God. May we receive the Crucified Lord into our lives and live and die with him. May God grant us the grace to take up our Cross daily and follow our Lord Jesus.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.