Meditations on the Cross

Making sense of Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection may be the most difficult and necessary task facing any Christian, not only during Lent, but throughout the year. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a German Lutheran pastor who was executed by the Nazis in 1945, constantly wrote about these themes, and made better sense of them for 20th-century Christians than almost anyone else. Meditations on the Cross, edited by Manfred Weber, collects his letters and sermons on the vexing topic of Christ's Passion. Each chapter is brief, focused, uplifting, and devastating, like any good devotional should be.