On Great Friday the Church remembers the ineffable mystery of Christ's death. Death -tormenting, indiscriminate, universal - casts its cruel shadow over all creation. It is the silent companion of life. It is present in everything, ready to stifle and impose limits upon all things. The fear of death causes anguish and despair. It shackles us to the appearances of life and makes rebellion and sin erupt in us (Heb 2.14-15). The Scriptures assure us that "God did not make death, and He does not delight in the death of the living, for He created all things that they might...