This Week
The Exaltation of the Holy Cross
Holy Doors, Holy Steps and Holy Cross
Brothers and sisters in Christ .I was in Rome last week for a day. I managed to visit the four Major Basilica’s with the Holy doors for the Jubilee of Hope. I went to Rome praying for those who asked me to pray for them, but also for my personal intentions. It was a beautiful experience. One church that caught my attention was the Church of the Holy Steps next to the Basilica of St John Lateran. It is said in tradition that these are the steps that Jesus stepped on in Pontius Pilate’s Preatorium before he was sentenced to Death on the Cross. This Sunday is the feast of the Holy Cross. St Helena, Emperor Constantine’s’ mother, found the Holy Cross, and tradition holds that she brought these steps to Rome.
It is a very interesting place, as a wooden cover protects the steps, there have been scientific investigations and these date back to the time of Christ. The thing that really made it special for me was the only way to go up those stairs is by kneeling.
They helped me because the image that you meet on the top is Christ crucified. Doing this painful devotion made me think that this pain is only temporary, and the pain I may be suffering is not comparable to Christs’. It also helped me remember those who asked me to pray for them in their pain and suffering that they may carry their own cross with the help of our Lord who knows our sufferings.
As we enter this new academic year let us remember that we do not walk alone, Christ helps us in every situation even when we think he is absent. Let us pray for Josh who is a seminarian from our Parish, as he starts his studies in Rome, and let us also pray for Christopher who is also discerning the Priesthood and will be at Valladolid this year.
Let us all walk together with Christ .
Fr Axcel
Readings at Mass Today
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Psalm
Second Reading
Gospel
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