During this Holy Week, we have been thinking about the passion and death of the Lord. Meanwhile, all around us there have been very visible reminders of suffering and brutality of person against person.

The tragic death of Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho of Mosul, 65, who was kidnapped Feb. 29 in an attack that left his driver and two bodyguards dead, is a case in point.

The archbishop had paid “beautiful witness of faithfulness to Christ, the Church and his people, whom he did not want to abandon despite numerous threats,” said Pope Benedict XVI on Palm Sunday.

The archbishop’s body was recovered March 13 after the kidnappers told Catholic leaders in Iraq where he had been buried.

Police were unclear whether Archbishop Rahho had been killed. He suffered from a heart condition and needed medication, Church officials said.

An autopsy was inconclusive about the cause of death due to the advanced state of the body’s decomposition. The archbishop had no bullet wounds, and he appeared to have been dead a week, reported the British news agency Reuters.

His death is a senseless loss. The archbishop was not part of the war in Iraqi. He was a religious leader who tried to minister to his people who were caught in the crossfire of men’s inhumanity to other men. A reminder of the suffering and death of the Lord.

Then there was the terrible discovery last week of a dead newborn on the steps of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Corona. The pastor blessed the remains of the little boy who will never know the joys of life. Again, an apparently senseless loss of life.

Police are investigating the death of the baby who was found wrapped in a paper bag.

It is the third incident of an infant being abandoned in Corona in the last three months. On Feb. 28 a six-month-old girl was dropped off at a local firehouse and, in December, a newborn girl was thrown in a dumpster. Both of those children survived.

Msgr. Thomas Healy found the child after he was visited by a distraught couple. He called police after praying with the couple, who said they had no place to turn.

Authorities say the two gave Msgr. Healy the bag, which held the body of the youngster. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne said police are investigating whether the couple’s 18-year-old daughter gave birth to the fetus. She has disappeared.

The couple asked Msgr. Healy to provide a proper burial for the decomposed body. In reports, he said he did not recognize the couple, but he recognized their pain.

The reaction on Thursday afternoon from parishioners, neighbors and parish employees was complete shock. Then they all had flurries of questions. Many did not understand why no one has come forward or why the child was abandoned at the church.

At this point, there are no charges.

Our hearts are broken as we learn about this young life snuffed out before it had begun to live. Another reminder of the suffering and death on Calvary.

Both are tragic events and could be fatal to our psyches, if not for our belief that death does not have the final answer. This Easter Sunday, we proclaim and celebrate our belief that there is resurrection after death. We celebrate Christ’s victory on the cross. He conquered death once and for all to assure us that we can put our faith in everlasting life with the Father.

Easter Sunday would have no meaning if not for Good Friday. The deaths of the archbishop and Corona baby sadden us but they also point the way to a greater truth of victory in Jesus. We believe that although these lives have been taken from us, and we truly mourn them, there is reason for optimism and hope because we believe they have risen to new life with the Creator in Heaven.

This is the answer Christianity provides to a broken world. Life on Earth is not an answer in itself. It is a foreshadowing of what is yet to come.

Every life will come to an end. Most will not end as tragically as in Iraq or on the steps of Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Even so, we feel death and we suffer. Yet we are confident that Jesus has gone before us and waits to greet each and every one of us in a kingdom He has provided for us.

Happy Easter! Alleluia!