In the gathered dimness of Saint Peter's Basilica, Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti presided this Good Friday over the solemn Liturgy of the Lord's Passion, as the delegate of Pope Francis, who is still convalescing. On this unique day in the liturgical year when no Mass is celebrated, the Church assembled around the three pillars of this sacred rite: the proclamation of the Passion according to Saint John, the adoration of the glorious Cross, and communion with the species consecrated the day before.
In his homily, Father Roberto Pasolini, a Capuchin and preacher of the Pontifical Household, emphasized the paradoxical character of this day:
"Between the light of Holy Thursday and the glory of Easter, the Cross stands, red as the blood that was shed. It does not tell of a defeat, but reveals the victory of Love that gives itself."
Faced with an era fascinated by artificial intelligence and algorithmic prediction, he contrasted the "cruciform logic" of Christ:
"It is not a reason that calculates, but a heart that loves. Far from human competitions, it restores our deepest freedom: that of choosing God, even in the night."
Three Cries that Pierce the Heavens
Drawing on the Epistle to the Hebrews — "Christ, by His tears, was heard" — the preacher meditated on three decisive moments of the Passion:
- "I am" (Jn 18:5): In the anguish of Gethsemane, Jesus does not submit. He advances, affirming His divinity. "No one takes my life from me: I lay it down of my own accord."
- "I thirst" (Jn 19:28): This cry, noted the Capuchin, "reveals a vulnerable God, who begs for our affection. True love is not self-sufficient: it abandons itself."
- "It is finished" (Jn 19:30): A final word not of despair, but of total trust. "Jesus holds nothing back. He surrenders everything: His body, His spirit, His story."
How can we believe, Father Pasolini asked, that the Father "heard" His Son as He died on the wood? "The answer is in the very abandonment of Christ: God did not spare Jesus suffering, but gave Him the strength to embrace it freely." A lesson for our lives:
"In trial, we are not called to understand everything, but to throw ourselves into the arms of the Father, like children."
Echoing Pope Francis's call for the 2025 Jubilee, the homily recalled that "the Christian does not flee the Cross: from it, he draws hope." "Let us then approach, as Scripture invites us, with confidence the throne of grace." The solemn veneration of the Crucifix that followed was not a simple rite, but a radical choice:
"He who embraces the sacred wood decides to follow the way of God — not to suppress suffering, but to meet Him there."
In conclusion, comforting words: "If our strength fails, the Holy Spirit deposits in us the sweetness of divine Love. We can love — our neighbors, our enemies — because He loved us first." As the faithful left the basilica, carrying within them the taste of the wine mixed with myrrh, the ultimate offering of Golgotha, this certainty remained: on the altar of the world, God continues to whisper that true power is in the gift of self.
This Good Friday, the Church did not adore a symbol, but embraced a Mystery: that of a King whose throne is a cross, and whose scepter, a reed, reminds us that true Love triumphs not by force, but by the wounded gentleness that rises on the third day.