In this major work of narrative theology, Alan Lewis breaks new ground with his moving and comprehensive exposition of the neglected but vital place of Holy Saturday in the Paschal mystery. Writing passionately but with precision, during his own Holy Saturday experience of temporary remission from terminal cancer, he offers compelling insights into "God's powerful weakness." Prayer, for him, is the "posture of those who foreswear the idolatry of self-reliance and affirm rather the perfection, primacy and power of God." It is only because of God's self-surrender to death, "that those and only those who lose and give themselves away shall find and fulfill themselves." Lewis calls us to a Christocentric catholicity that defies the individualism, nationalism, and group conflicts nurtured by a "secular pluralism." When "power is the expression, not the opposite, of service," the Easter Saturday community will be characterized by "audacious speech as well as suffering silence." Not a book for the faint-hearted, this book, prayerfully pondered, will leave no reader's life unchanged. Lenora Black, OSB

I learned more theology from one course under Dr. Alan Lewis than from over 40 years of church sermons. He taught, as he wrote, from his personal knowledge and understanding of Christianity during the months he was living with painful, incurable cancer. As more fully explained in the last chapter of this book, healing is a gift from God. No one person is more deserving of it than another. Diseases are not God's punishments. They happen. I am renewing and reviewing my Christian beliefs during my personal struggles with my dad's end-stage Parkinson's disease and my young cousin's ovarian cancer.

I hope that amazon.com promotes this book because it deserves reading by all thoughtful Christians.