“Jesus Transforms Crucifixion into Salvation: Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion”

Pope Leo XIV presided over the Good Friday liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica. The celebration took place on Good Friday afternoon.

The Solemn Liturgy at St. Peter’s

The Church did not celebrate Mass that day. Instead, it held the Solemn Liturgy of the Passion of the Lord.

The rite includes three parts. Those are the Liturgy of the Word, the Adoration of the Cross, and Holy Communion.

The Liturgy of the Word culminated in the chanting of the Passion according to St. John. The congregation then adored the Cross.

Fr. Roberto Pasolini’s homily

Fr. Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, Preacher of the Pontifical Household, delivered the sermon. He spoke after the Passion was proclaimed.

He urged the faithful not to treat the Cross as an isolated fact. He said it is the summit of a life and a journey.

Songs of the Servant

Fr. Pasolini reflected on the Servant songs from Isaiah heard during Holy Week. He traced four movements in that portrait.

• First, the Servant is called to free the blind and prisoners with gentleness and no violence.
• Second, he faces the crisis of apparent fruitlessness and the sense that effort yields no results.
• Third, those he wishes to help answer with hostility and even violence, yet he persists.
• Fourth, violence disfigures him, making him unrecognizable, but he does not repay evil with evil.

From Crucifixion to Salvation

Fr. Pasolini said that Jesus lived those songs fully. He trusted the Father and accepted the Passion completely.

By receiving suffering without returning violence, Jesus transforms crucifixion into salvation. This conversion breaks the cycle of retaliation.

The preacher described the Way of the Cross as a school of obedience. There Christ learned to love even apparent enemies.

Contemporary implications

Fr. Pasolini warned that the voice of God no longer guides many public decisions. Wars and injustices still wound the vulnerable.

Yet he noted a silent multitude listens to a different call. Ordinary people daily choose to serve others without fanfare.

Those choices, he argued, keep evil from having the final word. They translate the songs of the Servant into concrete action.

A call to Christians

The preacher insisted salvation will not come from political, economic, or military solutions alone. It comes by people embracing the Servant way.

Christians are called to approach the Cross without fear. They must refuse to return evil, remain patient, and serve others.

Fr. Pasolini used the image of a musical score. He said the Cross’s “score” is entrusted to believers to live out with love.

A full video of the Celebration of the Passion of the Lord is available for viewing. This report is presented by Filmogaz.com and Deborah Castellano Lubov.