Resurrection is Life

The Roman Catholic Lectionary today presents texts which mark the memorial of Justin who was a martyr in the 1st century in Rome. Some observations about our trip to Rome may seem obvious. There are a lot of clerics in Rome. Many of them study here today as Justin did in his time. The text from Tobit tells of action in which Tobit values the maintenance of his relationship with God more highly than obedience to the civil authorities. Our visit to the parish in Rome where our Franciscan of Halifax hosts live near the Church was an opportunity to see a new church building which is very busy with Sunday liturgy and celebration and which attracts many young people to parish worship and activity. The desire of too many to silence the message of Jesus presented in the witness in parish life like this shows that today there are still tenants in the vineyard who mistakenly depend on theft and murder to aquire material wealth. In the afternoon we were very fortunate to visit the catacombs under the tomb of St Agnes who was martyred in the 1st century. The decision of a friend of Agnes to visit her burial site in the catacombs resulted in her murder as a Christian. She is buried in the tomb with Agnes. The deep faith of the 1st century Christians in the Resurrection of the dead is evident in the inscriptions in the underground memorial. Amy Hoover comments on the faith of present day Christian martyrs who find themselves faced with execution as they are found working in the vineyard to bring the fruit of life in relationship with Jesus. The dedication of parish workers and students in Rome is evidence that Christianity is alive in this ancient city and it still challenges those who would seek self agrandizement in power, privilege and personal wealth.