Veneration of the Cross April 3, 2026 Homily: Fr. Vigoa — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:02Today we go deeper.
2. 0:06Because if Good Friday stays at the
3. 0:08level of just emotions,
4. 0:12if it stays at the level of that was
5. 0:15powerful, [music]
6. 0:17then we've missed everything.
7. 0:20We just heard the passion according to
8. 0:22the Gospel of John.
9. 0:26And at the center of it, one line that
10. 0:28echoes through it is
11. 0:31understanding that God says, "My God, my
12. 0:34God, why have you forsaken me?"
13. 0:39This is not just Jesus' cry. This is our
14. 0:43cry.
15. 0:46Every person in this church, whether you
16. 0:48admit it or not, has prayed this prayer
17. 0:51in some form or the other.
18. 0:55Where are you, God?
19. 0:57Where are you, God, when my life is
20. 0:59falling apart?
21. 1:02Where are you
22. 1:03when a diagnosis has come back?
23. 1:06Where are you when my marriage is
24. 1:09breaking up?
25. 1:11Where are you when I've been praying for
26. 1:12years for a suitable spouse?
27. 1:16Where are you when there's been tragedy
28. 1:18in my life?
29. 1:21Where are you when I've been praying for
30. 1:22things, for this or for that, and
31. 1:24nothing changes?
32. 1:28Where are you when the good suffer and
33. 1:30the wicked seem to always win?
34. 1:36Why does it feel like you're silent,
35. 1:38Lord?
36. 1:39Why does it feel like you're absent?
37. 1:43Why does it feel like you've abandoned
38. 1:45me?
39. 1:48Today God himself en- enters into that
40. 1:51question.
41. 1:53Not from a distance, but from the cross.
42. 1:58Jesus here is not acting. He is in it.
43. 2:03The Son of God enters into the deepest
44. 2:05human experience of abandonment.
45. 2:09Not just physical pain,
46. 2:12though it must have been unbearable and
47. 2:14excruciating,
48. 2:17but spiritual darkness, silence,
49. 2:21the feeling that the Father is no longer
50. 2:23there.
51. 2:25And here's the mystery.
52. 2:28The Father is there.
53. 2:31But the Son feels the weight of the
54. 2:33separation.
55. 2:35He steps into the place where sin takes
56. 2:38us.
57. 2:39That place where God feels absent,
58. 2:44so that you will never be alone there
59. 2:46again.
60. 2:48There is absolutely no suffering in your
61. 2:50life, no darkness, no confusion, no
62. 2:54moment where you have cried, "Where are
63. 2:56you, God?"
64. 2:58that he has not already been there.
65. 3:03That's why we listen to the passion, not
66. 3:05to feel bad for Jesus,
67. 3:09but to realize he has gone into the
68. 3:10deepest places of our lives.
69. 3:15Before you ever went there,
70. 3:18he was there.
71. 3:21And now we have to be honest because we
72. 3:24did this.
73. 3:26It's not just they did this to Jesus.
74. 3:29We did this.
75. 3:32Every time every sin is not just a
76. 3:35mistake.
77. 3:37It is a choice that echoes.
78. 3:40Every time we say, "Well, it's not that
79. 3:43serious."
80. 3:44The cross
81. 3:46says to us, "Look again."
82. 3:49Every time we did delay a conversion or
83. 3:53a real seriousness to walk in the ways
84. 3:55of the faith or or every time that we
85. 3:58say, "I'll go to confession one day."
86. 4:01The cross says,
87. 4:03"This is the cost."
88. 4:06Every time we choose ourselves
89. 4:09over God, we participate in this.
90. 4:13And that's uncomfortable.
91. 4:16Because many times we would rather just
92. 4:18be spectators.
93. 4:20We would rather say, "Well, Judas did
94. 4:22that."
95. 4:24Or Pilate did that.
96. 4:26Oh, no, the crowd, they cheered it on.
97. 4:29They caused this.
98. 4:31No.
99. 4:33We are in that story.
100. 4:36We betray.
101. 4:38We deny. We compromise. We walk away and
102. 4:42do things our own way.
103. 4:45We stay silent when we should speak up.
104. 4:51And you know what? He knows that.
105. 4:53And he still stays.
106. 4:56He stays. He stays knowing that Judas is
107. 4:58going to walk out and betray him. He
108. 5:01stays knowing that Peter will deny him.
109. 5:04He stays knowing that the crowd will
110. 5:06cru- will scream out, "Crucify him."
111. 5:10He stays knowing that you will sin
112. 5:13again.
113. 5:15He stays.
114. 5:17Why?
115. 5:20Well, because he would rather endure the
116. 5:22cross than to lose you.
117. 5:25And hanging there at that very moment
118. 5:27where he feels the weight of absolute
119. 5:30abandonment,
120. 5:33he does not curse.
121. 5:35He does not condemn.
122. 5:38He does not walk away. He says, "Father,
123. 5:41forgive them."
124. 5:44Do you understand how insane that is?
125. 5:48At the moment of maximum pain, he
126. 5:51chooses mercy.
127. 5:53At the moment that he could justify
128. 5:55judgment,
129. 5:57he gives forgiveness.
130. 6:00And he's not talking about a generic
131. 6:03them.
132. 6:05He's talking to you
133. 6:08about the sins you've made peace with.
134. 6:12About the habits you've stopped
135. 6:13fighting.
136. 6:15About the wounds or mistakes that you
137. 6:17think they define you.
138. 6:20About the part of your life you think is
139. 6:22beyond redemption. He says, "Forgive
140. 6:25them."
141. 6:28This is why we gather around the cross.
142. 6:32Not to feel something, but to decide
143. 6:35once and for all something.
144. 6:39Because the cross forces us to make a
145. 6:41decision.
146. 6:42You cannot stay neutral.
147. 6:45You cannot stand at the cross and remain
148. 6:48unchanged.
149. 6:50You cannot hear the cry, "Why have you
150. 6:53forsaken me?" and not realize he's
151. 6:55entered into your darkness.
152. 6:59So why would you not have so that you
153. 7:02would not have to stay there?
154. 7:06But I want you to listen carefully.
155. 7:09God the Father's silence is not absence.
156. 7:13The Father did not abandon the Son. And
157. 7:16he's never abandoned you.
158. 7:19What looked like silence was actually
159. 7:21salvation unfolding.
160. 7:24What looked like defeat was redemption
161. 7:26being accomplished.
162. 7:29What looked like the very end was the
163. 7:31beginning of God's plan for all of
164. 7:33humanity.
165. 7:35And the proof is coming,
166. 7:37but not today.
167. 7:40Today we have to stay here.
168. 7:43Today we cannot rush to Easter.
169. 7:46Today we must meditate on what Christ
170. 7:49has done for us.
171. 7:51Today we will kneel.
172. 7:55You will come forward and venerate the
173. 7:57cross.
174. 7:59Don't come casually.
175. 8:02Come like your life depends on it.
176. 8:05Because it does.
177. 8:07Bring that pain that you've been
178. 8:09carrying for years.
179. 8:12Bring the anger that you still carry.
180. 8:15Bring all of the hurt. Bring all of the
181. 8:18doubt. Bring the silence and place it at
182. 8:22the cross that you will kiss.
183. 8:25Because the cross is not an explanation.
184. 8:28The cross is to every answer to every
185. 8:30question that you have.
186. 8:33Not an answer that explains everything,
187. 8:35but an answer that shows you this. You
188. 8:38are not alone.
189. 8:40You are not abandoned.
190. 8:42And that you are loved to the very end.
191. 8:47And so today, my brothers and sisters,
192. 8:49fall before the cross.
193. 8:52And hear him say through a breath that
194. 8:54is almost gone,
195. 8:57"I went into the darkness for you
196. 9:02so that you would never be lost again."
197. 9:06And if that is true,
198. 9:08then this moment demands everything from
199. 9:11us.
200. 9:12It demands a complete change and a
201. 9:15complete surrender to his love. Amen.