Italian
In the film Marcellino, Bread and Wine, there is a simple yet profound scene: little Marcellino, having gone up to the attic, speaks with the crucified Jesus as if he were a friend. He doesn’t use difficult words, nor does he make theological speeches: he brings bread and wine, he brings himself, his hunger for affection, his innocence.
And Jesus… answers him.
In this dialogue lies all the mystery of Good Friday.
On the cross, Jesus is not distant. He is not a figure to be contemplated only with respect or fear. He is someone who awaits a relationship, who listens, who allows Himself to be approached. Marcellino is not afraid of the cross because he sees beyond the pain: he recognizes a face, a presence, a love.
Even we, before the cross, often remain silent, or feel inadequate. We think we don’t have the right words. But the Gospel and this scene remind us that perfect words are not needed: it is enough to bring who we are. Our struggles, our wounds, our thirst to be loved.
Marcellino offers bread and wine, the simplest signs of life. The same signs that Jesus chose to remain with us, to dwell among us, and to enter our hearts. And it is precisely these signs that become an encounter. So too, today, we can bring our daily lives to Jesus: work, relationships, hidden sufferings. The cross then becomes the place where God allows Himself to be encountered in our poverty.
On Good Friday, we contemplate a God who does not remain distant from human suffering, but inhabits it. A God who, as in the dialogue with Marcellino, does not cease to respond to those who seek Him with a simple heart.
Perhaps the question for us is this: do we still know how to speak to Jesus like this, without masks, without fear?
Because the cross is not the end of the dialogue. It is the place where love speaks the loudest. Always.
