Cardinal Claudio Gugerotti presided over the celebration of the Passion of Christ as the Pope's delegate. As tradition dictates, he prostrated himself on the floor before the altar upon entering.
After the Gospel reading, the Preacher of the Papal Household, Roberto Pasolini, delivered a homily in which he encouraged us to contemplate what he called the "Intelligence of the Cross."
ROBERTO PASOLINI
In a time like ours, so rich in new intelligences—artificial, computational, predictive—the mystery of Christ's passion and death proposes another kind of intelligence: the intelligence of the Cross, which does not calculate, but loves; which does not optimize, but gives itself.
He translated this "Intelligence of the Cross" as not only accepting reality when it is harsh, but going a step further: loving it.
ROBERTO PASOLINI
This attitude almost never changes the course of events. In fact, Jesus is arrested immediately afterward, but if lived with faith in God and faith in the history He guides, it allows us to remain interiorly free and steadfast.
One of the culminating moments of the celebration is the Adoration of the Cross. Among those present was the Vice President of the United States, occupying one of the places of honor, near the papal delegate.
BAM
TR: GS
