Our liturgical processions are often led by someone carrying the cross.  For most Christians today the cross probably signifies not only the love that God has for us but also the victory that Christ had over evil, even death itself. 

During this time of the year, when we are nearing the end of the Liturgical Calendar, our readings are about the “end-times”.

There’s no doubt that people have many kinds of questions about heaven or resurrection and what it will be like. The Gospel this Sunday confronts us with the theme of resurrection and life after death.

There are some really beautiful, powerful words and images offered us in this morning’s readings: how God sees the vast, immense universe around us, and all that exists in it.

It is the Holy Spirit who gathers us into the cry of all creation and of all humanity thirsting for salvation. Distracted by the daily concerns of life, we do not know what is really essential to ask. And so, the Spirit nourishes in us the question and hope of the true good that God has prepared for us.

When I arrived in Rome for further studies in September 1960 I heard the story several times from fellow Americans how one of their number asked an Italian if he was a Catholic and the man said “yes”.

The teaching of Jesus in today’s Gospel begins with a story that is reported to him by some people about a group of Galileans massacred by Pilate while offering a sacrifice in the Temple.

Mention was made above of Paul’s assertion that the Law was a reason for the proliferation of sin, and of the criticisms brought against Paul by his adversaries.

The biblical texts of this liturgy offer a common theme: the freedom granted by God to every human person, the use that we make of it, and the responsibilities that follow from it.

Throughout his Letter to the Romans, Paul maintains that it is useless to rely on the Law of Moses, since it does not free humanity, but rather enslaves and condemns humanity.