When I arrived at my computer early Monday morning to begin work on the bulletin (We have a deadline of Monday noon to get it to the printer), there was a news bulletin just four minutes old. Pope Francis had died about two hours earlier at the age of 88. It was one of those moments when you are surprised but not surprised. The Pope had been in frail health for three months. He had spent 38 days in a hospital and came close to death on several occasions. Lately, though, he had started making public appearances again, including a ride through the crowd gathering for Easter Mass less than 24 hours prior to his death. After the funeral rites for Pope Francs are concluded, the Cardinals will go into conclave to choose a successor. A lot of us are now familiar with the ancient rituals of a conclave, thanks to the popular book and film, Conclave. What is not emphasized, at least in the book (which I read), is that there is a period of time prior to the beginning of the conclave when Vatican officials educated the electors from around the world on the current state of the Church, its needs and challenges, and qualities that would be important in a new pontiff.

I wrote a column about a month ago on The Legacy of Pope Francis, and I am sure as the week goes by, you will have the opportunity to hear from many voices on the impact that Pope Francis has had on the church and the world and listen to as much speculation about the next pope as you can possibly tolerate. For now, let me just quote the official statement from Cardinal Farrell, issued several hours ago: “At 7:35 this morning, the Bishop of Rom e, Francis, returned to the house of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and of his church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially in favor of the poorest and most marginalized. With immense gratitude for his example as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the One and Triune God.”

Significantly, Christians around the world (including our sisters and brothers in the Eastern Church) had just celebrated Christ’s Easter victory over sin and death when Pope Francis died. Liturgically  Christ’s victory is too big an event and too central to our faith to be confined to just one day. The Easter season stretches out 50 days to the Feast of Pentecost on June 8. While Easter Sunday is known to most people as, well, Easter Sunday, this Second Sunday of Easter has gone by many names throughout the centuries. It is known as the Octave Day of Easter, because a major feast like Easter is celebrated for eight days (Every weekday of Easter week has the rank of a major feast). It has been called Low Sunday, because it contains less pomp and ceremony than Easter Sunday. For many centuries this Sunday was called White Sunday. It was customary for the newly baptized at Easter to wear to Mass the white garment they were dressed in following their baptism. White is the color of purity and baptism is the pre-eminent sacrament for the forgiveness of sin. The modern tradition of christening dresses for infants being baptized derives from this tradition. As I have often told parents, it makes more sense to dress the baby in their white garment after the baptism rather than in anticipation of it.

One of the more unexpected names for the Second Sunday of Easter is Quasimodo Sunday. It is unusual only because we usually associate the name Quasimodo with the leading character in Victor Hugo’s novelThe Hunchback of Notre Dame. But there is a connection. Quasimodo was found on the steps of Notre Dame Cathedral on Quasimodo Sunday. Where does the name originate?  From the opening phrase for the Latin Entrance Antiphon for this Second Sunday of Easter: Quasi modo geniti infantes (like newborn infants).

On April 30, 2000, Pope John Paul II designated this Second Sunday of Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope John Paul was a great devotee of the Polish mystic St. Faustina Kowalska, who said that Jesus had made this request in an apparition. It is an appropriate Sunday to speak of Divine Mercy, since the Gospel passage read on this Sunday describes Jesus’ appearance to the apostles and his offer of peace and forgiveness after they had mostly abandoned him during his hour of need. God’s mercy was also a persistent theme in the papacy of Francis, who liked to refer to the Church as “a hospital for sinners.”

                                                              Fr. Joe