Dear Brothers and Sisters,

St John begins his account of how Jesus washed his disciples' feet with an especially solemn, almost liturgical language. "Before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (Jn 13: 1). Jesus' "hour", to which all his work had been directed since the outset, had come. John used two words to describe what constitutes the content of this hour: passage (metabainein, metabasis) and agape - love. The two words are mutually explanatory; they both describe the Pasch of Jesus: the Cross and the Resurrection, the Crucifixion as an uplifting, a "passage" to God's glory, a "passing" from the world to the Father. It is not as though after paying the world a brief visit, Jesus now simply departs and returns to the Father. The passage is a transformation. He brings with him his flesh, his being as a man. On the Cross, in giving himself, he is as it were fused and transformed into a new way of being, in which he is now always with the Father and contemporaneously with humankind. He transforms the Cross, the act of killing, into an act of giving, of love to the end. With this expression "to the end", John anticipates Jesus' last words on the Cross: everything has been accomplished, "It is finished" (19: 30). Through Jesus' love the Cross becomes metabasis, a transformation from being human into being a sharer in God's glory. He involves us all in this transformation, drawing us into the transforming power of his love to the point that, in our being with him, our life becomes a "passage", a transformation. Thus, we receive redemption, becoming sharers in eternal love, a condition for which we strive throughout our life.

This essential process of Jesus' hour is portrayed in the washing of the feet in a sort of prophetic and symbolic act. In it, Jesus highlights with a concrete gesture precisely what the great Christological hymn in the Letter to the Philippians describes as the content of Christ's mystery. Jesus lays down the clothes of his glory, he wraps around his waist the towel of humanity and makes himself a servant. He washes the disciples' dirty feet and thus gives them access to the divine banquet to which he invites them. The devotional and external purifications purify man ritually but leave him as he is replaced by a new bathing: Jesus purifies us through his Word and his Love, through the gift of himself. "You are already made clean by the word which I have spoken to you", he was to say to his disciples in the discourse on the vine (Jn 15: 3). Over and over again he washes us with his Word. Yes, if we accept Jesus' words in an attitude of meditation, prayer and faith, they develop in us their purifying power. Day after today we are as it were covered by many forms of dirt, empty words, prejudices, reduced and altered wisdom; a multi-facetted semi-falsity or falsity constantly infiltrates deep within us. All this clouds and contaminates our souls, threatens us with an incapacity for truth and the good. If we receive Jesus' words with an attentive heart they prove to be truly cleansing, purifications of the soul, of the inner man. The Gospel of the washing of the feet invites us to this, to allow ourselves to be washed anew by this pure water, to allow ourselves to be made capable of convivial communion with God and with our brothers and sisters. However, when Jesus was pierced by the soldier's spear, it was not only water that flowed from his side but also blood (Jn 19: 34; cf. I Jn 5: 6-8). Jesus has not only spoken; he has not left us only words. He gives us himself. He washes us with the sacred power of his Blood, that is, with his gift of himself "to the end", to the Cross. His word is more than mere speech; it is flesh and blood "for the life of the world" (Jn 6: 51). In the holy sacraments, the Lord kneels ever anew at our feet and purifies us. Let us pray to him that we may be ever more profoundly penetrated by the sacred cleansing of his love and thereby truly purified!

If we listen attentively to the Gospel, we can discern two different dimensions in the event of the washing of the feet. The cleansing that Jesus offers his disciples is first and foremost simply his action - the gift of purity, of the "capacity for God" that is offered to them. But the gift then becomes a model, the duty to do the same for one another. The Fathers have described these two aspects of the washing of the feet with the words sacramentum and exemplum. Sacramentum in this context does not mean one of the seven sacraments but the mystery of Christ in its entirety, from the Incarnation to the Cross and the Resurrection: all of this becomes the healing and sanctifying power, the transforming force for men and women, it becomes our metabasis, our transformation into a new form of being, into openness for God and communion with him. But this new being which, without our merit, he simply gives to us must then be transformed within us into the dynamic of a new life. The gift and example overall, which we find in the passage on the washing of the feet, is a characteristic of the nature of Christianity in general. Christianity is not a type of moralism, simply a system of ethics. It does not originate in our action, our moral capacity. Christianity is first and foremost a gift: God gives himself to us - he does not give something, but himself. And this does not only happen at the beginning, at the moment of our conversion. He constantly remains the One who gives. He continually offers us his gifts. He always precedes us. This is why the central act of Christian being is the Eucharist: gratitude for having been gratified, joy for the new life that he gives us.

Yet with this, we do not remain passive recipients of divine goodness. God gratifies us as personal, living partners. Love given is the dynamic of "loving together", it wants to be new life in us starting from God. Thus, we understand the words which, at the end of the washing of the feet, Jesus addresses to his disciples and to us all: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (Jn 13: 34). The "new commandment" does not consist in a new and difficult norm that did not exist until then. The new thing is the gift that introduces us into Christ's mentality. If we consider this, we perceive how far our lives often are from this newness of the New Testament and how little we give humanity the example of loving in communion with his love. Thus, we remain indebted to the proof of credibility of the Christian truth which is revealed in love. For this very reason we want to pray to the Lord increasingly to make us, through his purification, mature persons of the new commandment.

In the Gospel of the washing of the feet, Jesus' conversation with Peter presents to us yet another detail of the praxis of Christian life to which we would like finally to turn our attention. At first, Peter did not want to let the Lord wash his feet: this reversal of order, that is, that the master - Jesus - should wash feet, that the master should carry out the slave's service, contrasted starkly with his reverential respect for Jesus, with his concept of the relationship between the teacher and the disciple. "You shall never wash my feet", he said to Jesus with his usual impetuosity (Jn 13: 8). His concept of the Messiah involved an image of majesty, of divine grandeur. He had to learn repeatedly that God's greatness is different from our idea of greatness; that it consists precisely in stooping low, in the humility of service, in the radicalism of love even to total self-emptying.
And we too must learn it anew because we systematically desire a God of success and not of the Passion; because we are unable to realize that the Pastor comes as a Lamb that gives itself and thus leads us to the right pasture.

When the Lord tells Peter that without the washing of the feet he would not be able to have any part in him, Peter immediately asks impetuously that his head and hands be washed. This is followed by Jesus' mysterious saying: "He who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet" (Jn 13: 10). Jesus was alluding to a cleansing with which the disciples had already complied; for their participation in the banquet, only the washing of their feet was now required. But of course this conceals a more profound meaning. What was Jesus alluding to? We do not know for certain. In any case, let us bear in mind that the washing of the feet, in accordance with the meaning of the whole chapter, does not point to any single specific sacrament but the sacramentum Christi in its entirety - his service of salvation, his descent even to the Cross, his love to the end that purifies us and makes us capable of God. Yet here, with the distinction between bathing and the washing of the feet, an allusion to life in the community of the disciples also becomes perceptible, an allusion to the life of the Church. It then seems clear that the bathing that purifies us once and for all and must not be repeated is Baptism - being immersed in the death and Resurrection of Christ, a fact that profoundly changes our life, giving us as it were a new identity that lasts, if we do not reject it as Judas did. However, even in the permanence of this new identity, given by Baptism, for convivial communion with Jesus we need the "washing of the feet". What does this involve? It seems to me that the First Letter of St John gives us the key to understanding it. In it we read: "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1: 8ff.). We are in need of the "washing of the feet", the cleansing of our daily sins, and for this reason we need to confess our sins as St John spoke of in this Letter. We have to recognize that we sin, even in our new identity as baptized persons. We need confession in the form it has taken in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In it the Lord washes our dirty feet ever anew and we can be seated at table with him.

But in this way the word with which the Lord extends the sacramentum, making it the exemplum, a gift, a service for one's brother, also acquires new meaning: "If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet" (Jn 13: 14). We must wash one another's feet in the mutual daily service of love. But we must also wash one another's feet in the sense that we must forgive one another ever anew. The debt for which the Lord has pardoned us is always infinitely greater than all the debts that others can owe us (cf. Mt 18: 21-35). Holy Thursday exhorts us to this: not to allow resentment toward others to become a poison in the depths of the soul. It urges us to purify our memory constantly, forgiving one another whole-heartedly, washing one another's feet, to be able to go to God's banquet together.

Holy Thursday is a day of gratitude and joy for the great gift of love to the end that the Lord has made to us. Let us pray to the Lord at this hour, so that gratitude and joy may become in us the power to love together with his love. Amen.

[Pope Benedict, Homily in Coena Domini 20 March 2008]

1. “I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk 22:15).

With these words, Christ declares the prophetic meaning of the Passover Meal which he is about to celebrate with the disciples in the Upper Room in Jerusalem.

In the First Reading from the Book of Exodus, the liturgy shows how the Passover of the Old Covenant provides the context for the Passover of Jesus. For the Israelites, the Passover was a remembrance of the meal eaten by their forefathers at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, the liberation from slavery. The sacred text prescribed that some of the lamb’s blood should be placed on the doorposts and the lintel of the houses. And it went on to stipulate how the lamb was to be eaten: “your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste... For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike down all the first-born... The blood shall be a sign for you, upon the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass you by, and no plague shall fall upon you to destroy you” (Ex 12:11-13).

The blood of the lamb won for the sons and daughters of Israel liberation from the slavery of Egypt, under the leadership of Moses. The remembrance of so extraordinary an event became a festive occasion for the people, who thanked the Lord for freedom regained, a divine gift and an enduringly relevant human task: “This day will be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord” (Ex 12:14). It is the Passover of the Lord! The Passover of the Old Covenant!

2. “I have longed to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk 22:15). In the Upper Room, Christ ate the Passover Meal with his disciples in obedience to the Old Covenant prescriptions, but he gave the rite new substance. We have heard how Saint Paul explains it in the Second Reading, taken from the First Letter to the Corinthians. This text, which is thought to be the oldest account of the Lord’s Supper, recalls that Jesus, “on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ?This is my body which is [given] for you. Do this in remembrance of me’. In the same way also the cup at the end of the meal, saying, ?This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me’. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:23-26).

These are solemn words which hand on for all time the memorial of the institution of the Eucharist. Each year, on this day, we remember them as we return spiritually to the Upper Room. This evening I re-evoke them with particular emotion, because fresh in my mind and heart is the image of the Upper Room, where I had the joy of celebrating the Eucharist during my recent Jubilee pilgrimage to the Holy Land. This emotion is still stronger, because this year is the Year of the Jubilee of the two thousandth anniversary of the Incarnation. Seen in this light, our celebration this evening takes on an especially profound meaning. In the Upper Room, Jesus filled the old traditions with new meaning and foreshadowed the events of the following day, when his Body, the spotless body of the Lamb of God, was to be sacrificed and his Blood poured out for the world’s redemption. The Word took flesh precisely with this event in view, looking to the Passover of Christ, the Passover of the New Covenant!

3. “As often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Cor 11:26). The Apostle urges us to make constant memorial of this mystery. At the same time, he invites us to live each day our mission as witnesses and heralds of the love of the Crucified Lord, as we await his return in glory.

But how are we to make memorial of this saving event? How are we to live as we await Christ’s return? Before instituting the Sacrament of his Body and Blood, Christ bent down and knelt, as a slave would do, to wash the disciples’ feet in the Upper Room. We watch him as he accomplishes this gesture, which in the Hebrew culture was the task of servants and the humblest persons in the household. Peter at first refuses, but the Master convinces him, and he too in the end, together with the other disciples, allows his feet to be washed. Immediately afterwards, however, clothed once more and seated at table, Jesus explains the meaning of his gesture: “You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought also wash one another’s feet” (Jn 13:12-14). These are words which link the Eucharistic mystery to the service of love, and may therefore be seen as a preparation for the institution of the ministerial priesthood.

In instituting the Eucharist, Jesus gives the Apostles a share as ministers in his priesthood, the priesthood of the new and eternal Covenant. In this Covenant, he and he alone is always and everywhere the source and the minister of the Eucharist. The Apostles in turn become ministers of this exalted mystery of faith, destined to endure until the end of the world. At the same time they become servants of all those who will share in so great a gift and mystery.

The Eucharist, the supreme Sacrament of the Church, is joined to the ministerial priesthood, which also comes to birth in the Upper Room , as the gift of the great love of the One who, knowing “that his hour had come to depart from this world to the Father [and] having loved his own who were in the world. . . loved them to the end” (Jn 13:1).

The Eucharist, the priesthood and the new commandment of love! This is the living memorial which we have before our eyes on Holy Thursday.

“Do this in memory of me”: this is the Passover of the Church! This is our Passover!

[Pope John Paul II, Homily in Coena Domini 20 April 2000]

This is touching. Jesus washing the feet of his disciples. Peter did not understand anything, he refused. But Jesus explained. Jesus - God - did this! And He Himself explains to the disciples: 'Do you understand what I have done for you? You call me the Master and the Lord, and rightly so, for I am. If therefore I, the Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you too must wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done' (Jn 13:12-15). It is the example of the Lord: He is the most important and washes the feet, because among us the one who is the highest must be at the service of others. And that's a symbol, that's a sign, isn't it? Washing feet is: 'I am at your service'. And we too, among ourselves, it is not that we must wash each other's feet every day, but what does this mean? That we must help one another. Sometimes I have been angry with one, with another ... but ... let it be, let it be, and if he asks you for a favour, do it. To help one another: this is what Jesus teaches us and this is what I do, and I do it from my heart, because it is my duty. As a priest and as a bishop I must be at your service. But it is a duty that comes from my heart: I love it. I love this and I love doing it because the Lord has taught me so. But you too, help us: always help us. Each other. And so, by helping each other, we will do each other good. Now we are going to do this ceremony of washing our feet and we think, each of us think: "Am I really willing, am I willing to serve, to help the other?" Let us only think this. And we think that this sign is a caress from Jesus, which Jesus does, because Jesus came precisely for this: to serve, to help us.

QUESTION FROM A YOUNG MAN:

Thank you Father for coming today. But I want to know one thing: why did you come here today to Casal del Marmo? Enough, just that.

ANSWER FROM THE POPE:

It's a feeling that came from the heart; I felt that. Where are those who will perhaps help me more to be humble, to be a servant as a bishop must be. And I thought, I asked: "Where are those who would like a visit?" And they told me 'Casal del Marmo, maybe'. And when they told me that, I came here. But from the heart came that alone. The things of the heart have no explanation, they only come. Thank you, eh!

FINAL SALUTES

Now I take my leave. Thank you so much for your welcome. Pray for me and do not let hope be stolen from you. Always ahead! Thank you very much!

[Pope Francis, homily during the Lord's Supper, "Casal del Marmo" Penal Institute for Minors in Rome, 28 March 2013]

(Mt 26:14-25)

Mt Mk Lk situate the institution of the Eucharist within the Jewish Passover supper.

A theological re-elaboration to affirm in Faith the meaning of the authentic Liberation Easter in Christ.

Compared to the Synoptics, the fourth Gospel is more in keeping with the sense of the Broken Bread: source of Life for all.

Jn places the death of the Lord at the moment in which the priests slaughtered the lambs [destined for the Passover] on the esplanade of the Temple.

The Face of Christ is that of the betrayed man.

But He lets it happen, because friends belong together - and knows: the inviolability of the loved one may not persist, even out of greed.

Even at the expense of who first welcomed us.

All this happens with a sense of peaceful loss - not as a result of preordained plan, but so that the disciples reflect on their own situation.

It is as if [to activate us] through the doubt about Judas and the whole group around, the Lord was still silently saying - precisely to us, but without moralizing: «Where are you?».

Because of the persecutions, some faithful of Mt community had allowed themselves to be intimidated and had abandoned their brothers of faith.

What attitude to adopt towards them?

The scandalous story of the first disciples’ failure opens incessant glimmers to the all times’ assemblies: the logic of the Kingdom is not affected by anything.

Wide-open doors even for those who deny and flee the Master.

Religious way without the Faith’s leap instills in sensitive people a progressive and marked sense of unworthiness: it imposes an unnerving waiting, of pressing perfections.

What counts is the splendid ability and attitude: how much each person does for God.

But divine Love is not subject to conditions. Therefore, in the genuine and more reliable path, the Surprise is first of all worth it: what the Lord creates for us.

He is the Coming One, and the Subject who operates, disposes, guides - the One who reweaves again the plot. And with unexpected setbacks or leaps, He snatches us away from the insufficiency obsession.

Without this more than wise Friendship, one gives in and it can happen to sell Christ in exchange for the convictions of others, for futile junk; trivial profits, shoddy happinesses.

Jesus continues to dip the morsel in his Blood and hand it to us.

Little by little we will learn to stand up for his values, so that he lives through us as Bread broken and distributed.

Little by little we will even manage not to fall silent and not run away from the gift of life, by transmuting ourselves into humanizing Food.

The only character who instead ruins and self-destructs himself (Mt 27,5) is the one who is fully compromised with external seductions, and false spiritual guides.

To internalize and live the message:

If asked about what characterizes, do you undertake to flaunt the others’ beliefs and external or already traced out targets? Or do you unravel the freedom to be and become yourself in Christ?

[Holy Week Wednesday, April 1st, 2026]

Betrayals

(Mt 26:14-25)

Mt Mk Lk situate the institution of the Eucharist within the Jewish Passover supper. A theological reworking to affirm (in Faith) the meaning of the authentic Passover of Deliverance in Christ.

Compared to the Synoptics, the Fourth Gospel is more in keeping with the meaning of the Broken Bread: the source of Life for all.

Jn 'anticipates' the Lord's death at the moment when the priests slaughtered the lambs destined for the Passover supper on the Temple esplanade.

Thus the sacrifice of the Cross - contemporary with the latter event - is rightly placed by Jn in the hours preceding the 'Passover' supper of the Synoptics.

In fact, the Lord's Supper did not originate from the popular celebration of the First Testament Exodus in April of the year 30 (Jesus was 37 years old).

No Eucharist has ever involved the typical ingredients of the Jewish Passover table, such as spices or sauces, sweet and bitter herbs, different chalices of wine and so on.

The original sense of the Master's ritual gesture with his own - which is the background to today's Gospel passage - is the joyful one of the Zebah-Todah [Lev 7:11ff: the only votive cult that could be celebrated outside the Temple in Jerusalem, at home, with friends and family].

Hence the double (common) term by which we still designate the efficacious sign that Christ left us: Communion [Zebah] and Eucharist [Thanksgiving: Todah].

Todah was a sacrifice of great praise, one of several specific kinds of the Communion sacrifice. We find several traces of it in the Eucharistic Prayer first.

The ceremonial action of Thanksgiving was intended in a very strong sense, as it celebrated Life found again, after a serious illness or an escape from death.

A good part of the Psalms - perhaps more than a third - in several places express the same final joy: the threat of life averted, and the experience of finding oneself saved together with one's loved ones, by divine Gift.

The meaning of this hymn in daily life was in fact initially also for the Catholic Church - for almost the entire first millennium (like the Orthodox Church) - celebrated with leavened bread [Lev 7:13], indicating its domestic and real value.

It traces the proper tones of such ancient worship of thanksgiving in the hearth - unfortunately, difficult to translate in the sense of the proper formulas [perceptible only to a specially trained ear, and in the original Hebrew text].

The joyful and familiar atmosphere with which the rite of Communion and Thanksgiving was celebrated seems here to be undermined by the drama of infidelity.

It is a strong call to vigilance for all of us.

Jesus handed himself over not because the Father's plan called for blood... nor that at least one would pay dearly for all.

The traits of the non-paying God have nothing to do with the point of compensation.

The Father does not need to be repaid anything.

He is not an energetic vampire, he does not demand that we live for him; quite the contrary.

And we see it in the Son, whom even Judas can dispose of. But so that he might reflect on his own condition - and so did Peter.

The Face of Christ is that of the betrayed man.

But He lets it be, because friends belong to each other - and He knows: the inviolability of a loved one may not endure, even out of greed. Even at the expense of the One who first welcomed us.

If the sense of mutual belonging falls away, then the face of the authentic Man becomes that of the sold man....

All this happens with a sense of peaceful loss - not by any preordained design, but for the disciples to reflect on their own situation, to recognise - and integrate.

It is the way by which we are educated to an awareness of our radical deficiency; to an awareness of our distance from the ideal - of the need for a path of love and genuineness, far greater than any indemnity.

A condition that of the apostles (as scrutinised in the Gospel passage) still vacuous and inattentive, or even belligerent and pre-human - prone even to trade in God, and in undefiled persons.

It is as if in order to activate us through doubt about Judas and the whole group around him, the Lord is still silently saying - precisely to us, but without moralising: "Where are you?".

Because of the persecution, some of the faithful in the community of Mt had allowed themselves to be intimidated and had abandoned their brothers in faith. What attitude to adopt towards them?

The scandalous affair of the failure of the first disciples opens unceasing glimmers for the assemblies of all times: the logic of the Kingdom is untouched by nothing.

Wide-open doors also for those who deny and flee the Master.

The religious path without the leap of Faith inculcates in sensitive people a progressive and pronounced sense of unworthiness: it imposes a nerve-wracking expectation of pressing perfection.

Wonderful skill and attitude counts: what man does for God.

But divine love is not conditional. Therefore, in the genuine and most reliable path, the surprise is first of all worth it: what the Lord creates for us.

He is the Coming One, and the Subject who works, disposes, guides - the One who retraces the plot. And with unexpected reversals or leaps it snatches away the obsession of insufficiency.

Without such free and 'guided' rather than wise Friendship, one gives in and may happen to sell Christ in exchange for fatuous fires, momentary flashes, other people's convictions, futile junk; cheap returns, shoddy happiness.

Jesus continues to dip the morsel in his Blood and hand it to us. Gradually we will learn to stand up for his values, so that he lives on through us as Bread broken and distributed.

Little by little, we even manage not to dumb down and run away from the gift of life... transmuting ourselves into Food.

The only character that instead ruins and self-destructs itself (Mt 27:5) is the one compromised to the end with external seductions, and false spiritual guides.

To internalise and live the message:

When questioned about what characterises you, do you engage in squaring other people's convictions and external or traced goals? Or do you stand for the freedom to be and become yourself in Christ?

The text by Don Mazzolari reproposed by Pope Francis

Our brother

Poor Judas. Our poor brother. The greatest of sins is not that of selling Christ; it is that of despairing. Even Peter had denied the Master; and then he looked at him and began to cry and the Lord put him back in his place: his vicar. All the apostles left the Lord and returned, and Christ forgave them and took them back with the same confidence. Do you think there would not have been room for Judas too if he had wanted to, if he had brought himself to the foot of Calvary, if he had watched him at least at a corner or turn of the road of the Cross: salvation would have come for him too. Poor Judas. A cross and a tree of a hanged man. Nails and a rope. Try to compare these two ends. You will tell me: 'One dies and the other dies'. But I would like to ask you which is the death you choose, on the cross like Christ, in the hope of Christ, or hanged, desperate, with nothing ahead. Forgive me if this evening, which should have been one of intimacy, I have brought you such painful considerations, but I also love Judas, he is my brother Judas. I will pray for him this evening too, because I do not judge, I do not condemn; I should judge me, I should condemn me. I cannot help thinking that even for Judas, God's mercy, this embrace of charity, that word friend, which the Lord said to him as he kissed him to betray him, I cannot help thinking that this word did not make its way into his poor heart. And perhaps at the last moment, remembering that word and the acceptance of the kiss, Judas too must have felt that the Lord still loved him and received him among his own. Perhaps the first apostle who entered together with the two thieves.

(Holy Thursday, 3 April 1958)

The capital of Vézelay

"It consoles me to contemplate that capital of Vézelay". This is the spiritual confidence offered by Pope Francis in his morning meditation at Santa Marta. The reference is to a medieval capital of the basilica of Vézelay, in Burgundy, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, on the ancient road to Santiago de Compostela. On the very first capital, about twenty metres from the floor, on the right as you look at the altar, there is a sculpture that is striking and disconcerting. On one side you see Judas hanged, his tongue hanging out, surrounded by devils. The surprise comes from the other side of the capital: there is the Good Shepherd carrying on his shoulders the very body of Judas.

(Pope Francis, in L'Osservatore Romano 8 April 2020: https://www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/2020-04/per-la-conversione-dei-tanti-giuda-di-oggi.html)

The question raises several theories. Some refer to the fact of his greed for money; others hold to an explanation of a messianic order: Judas would have been disappointed at seeing that Jesus did not fit into his programme for the political-militaristic liberation of his own nation.

In fact, the Gospel texts insist on another aspect: John expressly says that "the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him" (Jn 13: 2). Analogously, Luke writes: "Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve" (Lk 22: 3).

In this way, one moves beyond historical motivations and explanations based on the personal responsibility of Judas, who shamefully ceded to a temptation of the Evil One.

The betrayal of Judas remains, in any case, a mystery. Jesus treated him as a friend (cf. Mt 26: 50); however, in his invitations to follow him along the way of the beatitudes, he does not force his will or protect it from the temptations of Satan, respecting human freedom.

In effect, the possibilities to pervert the human heart are truly many. The only way to prevent it consists in not cultivating an individualistic, autonomous vision of things, but on the contrary, by putting oneself always on the side of Jesus, assuming his point of view. We must daily seek to build full communion with him.

Let us remember that Peter also wanted to oppose him and what awaited him at Jerusalem, but he received a very strong reproval: "You are not on the side of God, but of men" (Mk 8: 33)!

After his fall Peter repented and found pardon and grace. Judas also repented, but his repentance degenerated into desperation and thus became self-destructive.

For us it is an invitation to always remember what St Benedict says at the end of the fundamental Chapter Five of his "Rule": "Never despair of God's mercy". In fact, God "is greater than our hearts", as St John says (I Jn 3: 20).

Let us remember two things. The first: Jesus respects our freedom. The second: Jesus awaits our openness to repentance and conversion; he is rich in mercy and forgiveness.

Besides, when we think of the negative role Judas played we must consider it according to the lofty ways in which God leads events. His betrayal led to the death of Jesus, who transformed this tremendous torment into a space of salvific love by consigning himself to the Father (cf. Gal 2: 20; Eph 5: 2, 25).

The word "to betray" is the version of a Greek word that means "to consign". Sometimes the subject is even God in person: it was he who for love "consigned" Jesus for all of us (Rm 8: 32). In his mysterious salvific plan, God assumes Judas' inexcusable gesture as the occasion for the total gift of the Son for the redemption of the world.

[Pope Benedict, General Audience 18 October 2006]

1. With last Sunday, Palm Sunday, we entered the week which is called "holy" because in it we commemorate the principal events of our redemption. The heart of this week is the Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, who, as we read in the Roman Missal, "redeemed mankind and gave perfect glory to God principally through his paschal mystery: by dying he destroyed our death and by rising he restored our life. The Easter Triduum of the Passion and Resurrection of Christ is thus the culmination of the entire liturgical year" (General Norms for the Liturgical Year and the Calendar, n. 18). In the history of humanity there is no event more significant or of greater value. At the end of Lent, we are thus preparing to live fervently the days most important for our faith, and we intensify our commitment to follow Christ, Redeemer of man, with ever greater fidelity.

2. Holy Week leads us to meditate on the meaning of the Cross, in which "the revelation [of God's] merciful love attains its culmination" (cf. Dives in misericordia, n. 8). The theme of this third year of immediate preparation for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, dedicated to the Father, encourages us most particularly to reflect on this. His infinite mercy has saved us. In order to redeem humanity, he freely gave his Onlybegotten Son. How can we not thank him? History is illumined and guided by the incomparable event of the Redemption: God, rich in mercy, poured out his infinite goodness on every human being through Christ's sacrifice. How can we find an adequate way to express our gratitude? If, on the one hand, the liturgy of these days makes us offer a hymn of thanksgiving to the Lord, conqueror of death, at the same time it asks us to eliminate from our lives all that prevents us from conforming ourselves to him. We contemplate Christ in faith and re-examine the crucial points of the salvation he wrought. We recognize that we are sinners and confess our ingratitude, our infidelity and our indifference to his love. We need his forgiveness to purify us and sustain us in the commitment to interior conversion and a persevering renewal of our spirit.

3. "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!" (Ps 51 [50]:1, 2). These words, which we proclaimed on Ash Wednesday, have accompanied us throughout our Lenten journey. They resound in our spirit with unique intensity in the imminence of the holy days, during which the extraordinary gift of the forgiveness of our sins, obtained for us by Jesus on the Cross, is renewed for us. Before the crucified Chist, an eloquent reminder of God's mercy, how can we not repent of our own sins and be converted to love? How can we not concretely repair the damage we have caused others and return goods acquired dishonestly? Forgiveness requires concrete actions: repentance is true and effective only when it is expressed in tangible acts of conversion and the proper reparation.

4. "Lord, in your great love, answer me!". Thus we are prompted to pray by today's liturgy for Wednesday of Holy Week, totally intent on the saving events we will be commemorating in the next few days. Today, as we proclaim Matthew's Gospel about the Passover and Judas' betrayal, we are already thinking of the solemn Mass "in Cena Domini" tomorrow afternoon, which will recall the institution of the priesthood and the Eucharist, as well as the "new" commandment of fraternal love which the Lord left us on the eve of his death.

This evocative celebration will be preceded tomorrow morning by the Chrism Mass at which the Bishop presides, surrounded by his priests. The sacred oils for Baptism, the Anointing of the Sick and Chrism are blessed. In the evening, then, when the Mass "in Cena Domini" is over, there will be a time of adoration, in response as it were to Jesus' invitation to his disciples on the tragic night of his agony: "remain here, and watch with me" (Mt 26:38).

Good Friday is a day of great emotion, on which the Church will have us listen once again to the account of Christ's Passion. The "veneration" of the Cross will be the centre of the liturgy celebrated on that day, while the ecclesial community prays intensely for the needs of believers and of the whole world.

A moment of deep silence follows. Everything will remain quiet until the night of Holy Saturday. Joy and light will burst into the darkness with the evocative rites of the Easter Vigil and the festive singing of the Alleluia. It will be an encounter in faith with the risen Christ and our Easter joy will be prolonged throughout the 50 days that follow.

5. Dear brothers and sisters, let us prepare ourselves to relive these events with deep fervour together with Mary most holy, present at every moment of her Son's Passion and a witness to his Resurrection. A Polish hymn says: "Blessed Mother, we raise our cry to your heart pierced by the sword of sorrow!". Mary, accept our prayers and the sacrifices of those who are suffering; strengthen our Lenten resolutions and accompany us as we follow Jesus at the time of his ultimate trial. Christ, tortured and crucified, is the source of strength and sign of hope for all believers and for all humanity.

[Pope John Paul II, General Audience 31 March 1999

"Let us pray today for the people who, in this time of pandemic, trade with the needy; they take advantage of the need of others and sell them out: the mafiosi, usurers and many. May the Lord touch their hearts and convert them". Pope Francis did not resort to turns of phrase on Wednesday morning, 8 April, at the beginning of the Mass celebrated in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta and broadcast live via streaming. Inviting then, in the homily, to look at the many 'institutionalised Judas' of today who, in various ways, exploit and sell people, including family members. But also to the 'little Judas' in everyone, ready to betray for interest.

"Holy Wednesday is also called 'Betrayal Wednesday', the day on which the betrayal of Judas is emphasised in the Church," the Pope explained as he began his meditation. The passage from the Gospel of Matthew (26:14-25), proposed by the liturgy, recalls precisely that "Judas sells the Master".

In fact, 'when we think of selling people,' the Pontiff pointed out, 'the trade made with slaves from Africa to bring them to America comes to mind: an old thing'. And 'the trade, for example, of Yazidi girls sold to Daesh' also seems a 'distant thing'.

But 'even today people are sold, every day,' Francis said. Even today, therefore, "there are Judas who sell their brothers and sisters: exploiting them in their work, not paying the right amount, not recognising their duties".

"Indeed, they sell many times the dearest things", the Pope relaunched, confiding that "in order to be more comfortable, a man is capable of alienating his parents and never seeing them again; putting them in a rest home and not going to visit them". People are 'sold' without scruples.

In this regard, the Pontiff recalled that 'there is a very common saying that, speaking of such people, says that "this one is capable of selling his own mother": and they sell her'. As if to say: 'Now they are quiet, they are removed: "You take care of them"'".

"Today human trade," Francis insisted, "is like in the early days: it is done. Why is this? Because: Jesus said this. He gave money a lordship. Jesus said: 'You cannot serve God and money', two lords' (cf. Luke 16:13). And "it is the one thing," he pointed out, "that Jesus sets at the height and each of us must choose: either you serve God, and you will be free in worship and service; or you serve money, and you will be a slave to money.

"This is the option", but "many people want to serve God and money and this cannot be done", the Pope pointed out. So much so that, "in the end, they pretend to serve God in order to serve money". These are the 'hidden exploiters who are socially impecunious, but under the table they trade, even with people: it doesn't matter. Human exploitation is selling out your neighbour".

"Judas went away," the Pontiff continued, "but he left disciples, who are not his disciples but of the devil. Besides, 'what Judas's life was like we do not know. A normal guy, perhaps, and also with anxieties, because the Lord called him to be a disciple'. However, "he never managed to be: he did not have a disciple's mouth and a disciple's heart as we read in the first reading," remarked Francis, referring to the passage from the book of the prophet Isaiah (50:4-9).

In short, Judas 'was weak in discipleship, but Jesus loved him'. In fact, the Pope added, "the Gospel makes us understand that" Judas "liked money: at Lazarus' house, when Mary anoints Jesus' feet with that expensive perfume, he makes the remark and John points out: 'But he does not say this because he loved the poor: because he was a thief'" (cf. John 12:6).

And so 'the love of money had led him outside the rules: to steal, and from stealing to betraying there is a small step,' the Pontiff said. 'Those who love money too much,' he added, 'betray for more, always: it is a rule, it is a fact'. And "the young Judas, perhaps good, with good intentions, ends up a traitor to the point of going to the market to sell: "He went to the chief priests and said: 'How much do you want to give me so that I may deliver him to you'" (cf. Matthew 26:14).

"In my opinion, this man was beside himself," Francis explained. "One thing that catches my attention," he confided, "is that Jesus never says 'traitor' to him; he says he will be betrayed, but he does not say 'traitor' to him. Never say to him 'go away, traitor'. Never! Indeed, he says 'friend' to him and kisses him".

We are before the 'mystery of Judas: what is the mystery of Judas like? Don Primo Mazzolari explained it better than I did,' said the Pope, recalling the homily - an excerpt of which we report on this page - that the parish priest of Bozzolo delivered on Holy Thursday 1958. "Yes, it consoles me," he continued, "to contemplate that capital of Vèzelay: how did Judas end up? I don't know. Jesus threatens strongly here: "Woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! Better for that man if he had never been born!" writes John in his Gospel. "But does this mean that Judas is in Hell? I do not know. I look at the capital. And I hear the word of Jesus: 'Friend'," Francis said.

All 'this,' he said, 'makes us think of something else, which is more real, more than today: the devil entered Judas, it was the devil who led him to this point. And how did the story end? The devil is a bad payer: he is not a reliable payer. He promises you everything, he shows you everything, and in the end he leaves you alone in your despair to hang yourself'.

"Judas' heart," Francis pointed out, is "restless, tormented by greed and tormented by love for Jesus". It is 'a love that failed to become love'. So Judas, "tormented with this fog, returns to the priests asking for forgiveness, asking for salvation". But he hears himself answer, "What has that got to do with us? It is your thing'. In fact "the devil speaks like this and leaves us in despair".

Concluding his meditation, the Pontiff invited us to think about 'so many Judas institutionalised in this world, who exploit people'. But he asked us to think "also of the 'little Judas' that each of us has within us in the hour of choosing: between loyalty or interest". With the knowledge that everyone 'has the ability to betray, to sell out, to choose for their own interest. Each one of us has the possibility of being lured by the love of money or possessions or future prosperity'. In short, "Judas, where are you?" is a question Francis suggests asking oneself: "You, Judas, the "little Judas" inside me: where are you?".

It was then with the prayer of Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val that the Pope invited "people who cannot take communion" to take spiritual communion. And he concluded the celebration with adoration and the Eucharistic blessing. To finally pause in prayer before the Marian image in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, accompanied by the singing of the antiphon Ave Regina Caelorum.

Don Mazzolari's text reproposed by the Pope in his homily

Our brother

Poor Judas. Our poor brother. The greatest of sins is not that of selling Christ; it is that of despairing. Peter too had denied the Master; and then he looked at him and began to cry and the Lord put him back in his place: his vicar. All the apostles left the Lord and returned, and Christ forgave them and took them back with the same confidence. Do you think there would not have been room for Judas too if he had wanted to, if he had brought himself to the foot of Calvary, if he had watched him at least at a corner or turn of the road of the Cross: salvation would have come for him too. Poor Judas. A cross and a tree of a hanged man. Nails and a rope. Try to compare these two ends. You will tell me: 'One dies and the other dies'. But I would like to ask you which is the death you choose, on the cross like Christ, in the hope of Christ, or hanged, desperate, with nothing ahead. Forgive me if this evening, which should have been one of intimacy, I have brought you such painful considerations, but I also love Judas, he is my brother Judas. I will pray for him this evening too, because I do not judge, I do not condemn; I should judge me, I should condemn me. I cannot help thinking that even for Judas, God's mercy, this embrace of charity, that word friend, which the Lord said to him as he kissed him to betray him, I cannot help thinking that this word did not make its way into his poor heart. And perhaps at the last moment, remembering that word and the acceptance of the kiss, Judas too must have felt that the Lord still loved him and received him among his own. Perhaps the first apostle who entered with the two thieves.

(Holy Thursday, 3 April 1958)

The capital of Vézelay

"It consoles me to contemplate that capital of Vézelay". This is the spiritual confidence offered by Pope Francis in his morning meditation at Santa Marta. The reference is to a medieval capital of the basilica of Vézelay, in Burgundy, dedicated to Saint Mary Magdalene, on the ancient road to Santiago de Compostela. On the very first capital, about twenty metres from the floor, on the right as you look at the altar, there is a sculpture that is striking and disconcerting. On one side you see Judas hanged, his tongue hanging out, surrounded by devils. The surprise comes from the other side of the capital: there is the Good Shepherd carrying on his shoulders the very body of Judas.

[Pope Francis, in L'Osservatore Romano 8 April 2020: https://www.osservatoreromano.va/it/news/2020-04/per-la-conversione-dei-tanti-giuda-di-oggi.html]

Palm Sunday and the Passion of the Lord [29 March 2026]

May God bless us and may the Virgin Mary protect us! We enter Holy Week, of which Palm Sunday already gives us a foretaste of the joy and sorrow, the mystery of love and hatred that leads to death: the whole Passion, death and resurrection of Christ. To relive is not merely to remember, but also to open our hearts ever more to this mystery of salvation.

*First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah (50:4–7)

Isaiah was certainly not thinking of Jesus Christ when he wrote this text, probably in the 6th century BC, during the exile in Babylon. Let me explain: since his people were in exile, in very harsh conditions, and could easily have succumbed to discouragement, Isaiah reminds them that they are always God’s servants. And that God is counting on them, his servants (that is, his people), to bring his plan of salvation for humanity to fulfilment. The people of Israel are therefore this Servant of God, nourished every morning by the Word, yet also persecuted precisely because of their faith and capable, despite everything, of withstanding all trials. In this text, Isaiah clearly describes the extraordinary relationship that unites the Servant (Israel) with his God. Its main characteristic is listening to the Word of God, ‘the open ear’, as Isaiah puts it. ‘Listening’ is a word that has a very particular meaning in the Bible: it means to trust. We usually contrast these two fundamental attitudes between which our lives constantly oscillate: trust in God, a serene surrender to his will because we know from experience that his will is always good; or mistrust, suspicion of God’s intentions, and rebellion in the face of trials—a rebellion that can lead us to believe that God has abandoned us or, worse still, that He might take some satisfaction in our sufferings.

The prophets repeat: “Listen, Israel” or: “Will you listen to the Word of God today?” And on their lips, the exhortation “listen” always means: trust in God, whatever happens. And Saint Paul explains why: We know that all things work together for good for those who love God (Rom 8:28).

From every evil, from every difficulty, from every trial, God brings forth good; to every hatred he opposes an even stronger love; in every persecution, he grants the strength of forgiveness; and from every death, he brings forth life, the resurrection. It is a story of mutual trust. God trusts his Servant and entrusts him with a mission; in turn, the Servant accepts the mission with trust. And it is precisely this trust that gives him the strength needed to remain steadfast even in the opposition he will inevitably encounter. Here the mission is that of a witness: “So that I may sustain with my words those who are weary,” says the Servant. In entrusting him with this mission, the Lord also grants the necessary strength and the appropriate language: “The Lord God has given me the tongue of a disciple.” And even more: he himself nourishes this trust, which is the source of all boldness in the service of others: “The Lord God makes my ear attentive”, which means that listening (in the biblical sense, that is, trust) is itself a gift from God. Everything is a gift: the mission, the strength, and even the trust that makes one unshakeable. This is precisely the hallmark of the believer: to recognise everything as a gift from God. He who lives in this permanent gift of God’s strength can face anything: “I did not resist, I did not turn back.” Faithfulness to the mission received inevitably entails persecution. True prophets, those who truly speak in the name of God, are rarely appreciated during their lifetime. In concrete terms, Isaiah says to his contemporaries: hold fast. The Lord has not abandoned you; on the contrary, you are on a mission for him. Do not be surprised, then, if you are mistreated. Why? Because the Servant who truly listens to the Word of God—that is, who puts it into practice—soon becomes a thorn in the side. His very conversion calls others to conversion. Some heed this call… others reject it and, convinced of their own righteousness, persecute the Servant. And every morning the Servant must return to the source, to the One who enables him to face everything. Isaiah uses a somewhat strange expression: “I set my face like flint” to express resolve and courage. Isaiah was speaking to his people, persecuted and humiliated during the exile in Babylon; but, naturally, when one re-reads the Passion of Christ, this text stands out in all its clarity: Christ corresponds perfectly to this portrait of the Servant of God. Listening to the Word, unshakeable trust and thus the certainty of victory even in the midst of persecution: all this characterised Jesus precisely at the moment when the acclamations of the crowd on Palm Sunday marked and hastened his condemnation.

*Responsorial Psalm (21/22)

Psalm 21 (22) begins with the famous cry: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”. This phrase has often been taken out of context and interpreted as a cry of despair, whereas in reality the psalm must be read in its entirety. Indeed, after describing suffering and anguish, it ends with a great song of thanksgiving: “You have answered me! I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters’. The one who at first feels forsaken ultimately recognises that God has saved him and has not left him alone. Some images in the psalm seem to describe the crucifixion: ‘They have pierced my hands and my feet’, ‘they divide my garments’, ‘a band of evildoers surrounds me’. This is why the New Testament applies this psalm to the Passion of Jesus. However, the text originated in a specific historical context: the return of the people of Israel from the Babylonian exile. The exile had been like a death sentence for the people, who had risked disappearing; the return to their own land is therefore likened to the liberation of a condemned man who had narrowly escaped death. The image of the crucifixion serves to express the humiliation, violence and sense of abandonment experienced by the people, but the focus of the psalm is not suffering but rather the salvation received. The cry “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” is therefore not a cry of despair or doubt, but the prayer of one who suffers and continues to turn to God with trust. Even in the midst of trial, Israel does not cease to pray and to remember the covenant and the blessings received from the Lord. For this reason, the psalm can be likened to a votive offering: in times of danger, God’s help is invoked, and once saved, thanks are given publicly. The psalm recalls the tragedy endured, but above all proclaims gratitude towards God who has delivered his people. The final verses thus become a great hymn of praise: the poor shall be satisfied, those who seek the Lord shall praise him, and all nations shall acknowledge his lordship. God’s salvation will also be proclaimed to future generations. For this reason, in Christian tradition, this psalm has been recognised as a prophecy of Christ’s Passion: on the cross, Jesus echoes the first verse of the psalm, but just as for Israel, so too for him the final word is not suffering, but salvation and life.

*Second Reading from the Letter of Saint Paul the Apostle to the Philippians (2:6–11)

During the exile in Babylon, in the 6th century BC, the prophet Isaiah had bestowed upon the people of Israel the title of Servant of God. Their mission, amidst the trials of exile, was to remain faithful to the faith of their fathers and to bear witness to it among the pagans, even at the cost of humiliation and persecution. Only God could give them the strength to fulfil this mission. When the early Christians were confronted with the scandal of the cross, they sought to understand Jesus’ destiny and found the explanation in the words of St Paul: Jesus ‘emptied himself, taking the form of a servant’. He too faced opposition, humiliation and persecution, drawing his strength from the Father and living in total trust in Him. Although he was of divine nature, Jesus did not seek glory and honours. As Paul says, “though he was in the form of God, he did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited”. Precisely because he is God, he claims nothing for himself, but lives in gratuitous love and becomes man to show mankind the way to salvation. His exaltation is not a deserved reward, but a free gift from God. God’s logic is not that of merit or calculation, but that of grace, which is always a free gift. According to Paul, God’s plan is a plan of love: to bring humanity into his life, into his joy and into his communion. This gift is not earned, but received with gratitude. When man demands or claims, he closes himself off from grace, as happened symbolically with the sin in the Garden of Eden. Jesus, on the other hand, lives in the opposite attitude: the total acceptance of the Father’s will, what Paul calls obedience. For this reason, God exalted him and gave him the Name that is above every name: the name of Lord, a title which in the Old Testament belonged only to God. Before him “every knee shall bow”, to quote the words of the prophet Isaiah (Is 45:23). Jesus lived his entire life in humility and trust, even in the face of human violence and death. His obedience – which literally means “to place one’s ear before the word” – expresses a total and trusting listening to the Father’s will. For this reason, Paul’s hymn concludes with the Church’s profession of faith: “Every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. In Christ, the glory of God is fully manifested, that is, the revelation of his infinite love. Seeing Jesus love to the very end and give his life, one can recognise, like the centurion beneath the cross, that he is truly the Son of God.

*The Passion of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (26:14–27:66)

Every year, on Palm Sunday, the liturgy reads the account of the Passion from one of the three Synoptic Gospels; this year it is that of Matthew. The four accounts of the Passion are similar in broad outline, but each evangelist highlights certain particular aspects. Matthew, in particular, recounts certain episodes and details that the others do not mention. First of all, Matthew is the only one to specify the exact sum for which Judas betrays Jesus: thirty pieces of silver, which according to the Law was the price of a slave. This detail shows the contempt with which men treated the Lord. Later, Judas himself, overcome with remorse, returns the money to the chief priests, saying that he has handed over an innocent man to his death. They, however, do not wish to take responsibility for it. Judas throws the coins into the temple and hangs himself; the priests use that money to purchase the potter’s field, intended for the burial of foreigners, later called the ‘Field of Blood’, thus fulfilling a prophetic word. During the trial before Pilate, Matthew recounts a unique episode: the intervention of Pilate’s wife, who sends word to her husband not to have anything to do with ‘that righteous man’, for she has suffered greatly in a dream because of him. Pilate himself appears unsettled and, seeing that the crowd is growing ever more agitated, performs the symbolic gesture of washing his hands, declaring himself innocent of that man’s blood. The crowd replies: ‘Let his blood be on us and on our children.’ Pilate then releases Barabbas and hands Jesus over to be crucified. At the moment of Jesus’ death, Matthew also recounts that the veil of the temple is torn, but adds extraordinary details: the earth trembles, the rocks split, the tombs open, and many righteous people rise and appear in the holy city after Jesus’ resurrection. Finally, Matthew highlights the authorities’ concern to guard the tomb, fearing that the disciples might steal the body and claim that Jesus has risen; this very message is what they will spread after Easter. The account highlights a great paradox: the blindness of the religious authorities, who persecute Jesus, whilst some pagans, almost unwittingly, bestow upon him the highest titles. Pilate’s wife calls him ‘righteous’, Pilate has ‘King of the Jews’ written on the cross, and even the title ‘Son of God’, initially used to mock him, ultimately becomes a true profession of faith when the Roman centurion exclaims: ‘Truly this man was the Son of God’. This confession already foreshadows the opening of salvation to the pagans and shows that Christ’s death is not a defeat, but a victory. Matthew highlights the contrast between the weakness of the condemned man and his true greatness: it is precisely in his apparent powerlessness that Jesus manifests the greatness of God, who is infinite love. And in this light, we come to understand ever more deeply the significance of Christ’s Passion, which we shall relive visually this week and in particular during the Holy Triduum: Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, and above all in the outpouring of Easter joy at Christ’s Resurrection.

+Giovanni D’Ercole