As I read the Gospel for this Sunday, it brought to mind the Rite of Acceptance for those entering into the process of becoming Catholic. Perhaps the most striking element of this rite of the catechumens with the cross, the very symbol of Christianity. In recognition of their acceptance of their call to take up their personal crosses and follow Jesus, as well as their willingness to lose their own lives for the sake of Gods reign, they are signed with the cross on the forehead, ears, eyes, lips, heart, shoulder, hands and feet. In accepting the cross, they acknowledge the costs of their discipleshipdying to ones self-centeredness and sacrificing ones own life for the sake of another. In addition, they accept their calling to become counter-cultural signs in a culture already overtaken with self-absorption and self-indulgence. In addition, they serve as a reminder to those of us already baptized into Christ, that we are called to do no less.