Since the Holy Father’s passing early Easter Monday the media has been filled with commentary on his pontificate and speculation about the next pope. Who that man is only God knows as of right now. It can be tempting to think that, except for the Cardinals who will soon gather for the conclave to elect a new successor of Peter, we’re helpless and can only sit back and wait. I think, however, there is much that you and I can do in these days when the Church commends to almighty God the mortal remains of Pope Francis.

In her masterful book, The Crucifixion: Understanding the Death of Jesus Christ, Fleming Rutledge writes perhaps better than any author I’m aware of on the sheer horror of death in this fashion. What follows are a series of excerpts from her book, and while this may be a longer post than usual, it might be worth taking with us to the celebrations that are about to begin, to help us better understand what’s happening to Him for us.

We – the guilty, the enslaved, the foolish, the rebellious, the unfaithful, the creatures – go free and have life because He – the Innocent, the Lord, the King, the Creator, the Son – placed Himself into the hands of Death.

What kind of God is this? What kind of love is this? Who am I that my King should allow Himself to be torn to shreds when it is I who should be?

Baptism, like the tsunami, causes things to drown. What things? Sin, guilt, the pasts by which we feel haunted. I know few things as a priest that compare with standing inside the font at the Easter Vigil, waiting in the water for those standing outside it to step in