The journey in sculpture and saints

The Roman Catholic Lectionary for today offers some reflection on ending of planned events and continung to grow and learn from them. The Gospel of John, as noted by
Larry Gillick SJ , presents a question from Peter to Jesus about the Beloved Disciple. The interpretation of this text may be advice from Jesus that we all have our own path to follow as we discern and act on the invitation to follow Him. What happens to other believers in their faith walk is not our immediate concern unless we are in the situation where the trust and faith of the community is being distorted by concern over individuals.The death of the apostolic generation before the second coming of Christ may be addressed in these closing lines of the Gospel of John. In the Acts of the Apostles , Luke expresses the successful conclusion of the mission of Paul as he is able to openly preach and speak of Jesus in Rome the centre of the Empire thus fullfilling the prophesy of Isaiah that God would extend His people to the ends of the earth. The message has moved from the spiritual centre, Jerusalem, to the political centre of Rome. Our visit to Italy centered todate in Montella in the Naples region has been an opportunity to experience a journey in human endeavour from the first Greek city of 300 BCE through the Roman times seen in Pompei and the response of the faithful through the art, architecture, convents, shrines and monastries to changing enviroments. The marvelleous presentation of Christ and the saints in art and sculpture is a presentation of that desire to see through the veil surrounding Christ glorified in suffering We continue towards Rome after our look at some 19th and 20th century saints who made Christ visible in healing action for the people. Giuseppe Moscati was an Italian physician. and Franciscan mystic Padre Pio of Pietrelcina have shaped the faith journey of Italians in our time