"If our hopes in Christ are limited to this life only, we are the most pitiable of men", St Paul wrote to the Christians in Corinth. The martyrs (like those whose feast day is today) gave their lives in witness to beliefs and hopes that go far beyond the scope of the human life we experience in this troubled, limited world. If this life is all there is, then the martyrs must be the stupidest of all, to throw it away for no benefit. Of course, there are people in history who died for a cause, an idea, a value they believed in, without necessarily believing in a life beyond this world's. At least, they believed their dying would achieve some good result, for others. But too often these days, we hear about people ending their own lives because they can see no meaningful future for themselves or have no hope at all. What are my hopes, in Christ, in Him who rose from the dead to let me share His life, a life that goes beyond what seems to be the end of human life? Are my deep desires and dreams and hopes and prayers limited just to the best that this present human life has to offer? Surely my faith in Jesus risen and alive should colour all of my life and attitudes and outlook, making me a different person from those who don't believe, from those whose hopes are limited, at best.