Go to Galilee

In our Easter Gospels we hear the instruction to the disciples to…”Go to Galilee…they will see me there”

Yes, Galilee is a place they know…it is where they first met Jesus when he invited the first group to leave their nets…leave their boats at the lakeshore and come and follow.  This they did, probably with much excitement but also with expectation, may be fear, may be wonder at where he would lead them. But they trusted his invitation and they followed. And now they are asked to go again to Galilee…

Galilee was the beginning of their new life with him…from there they travelled with him…listening to him…observing him…questioning him…praying with him.  Now they are invited to return…not just to a physical place but to remember their first encounter with him.

And we too are invited to join them on this path to Galilee…

For the disciples going to Galilee means walking away from the tomb. The women were looking for Jesus in the tomb; they went to recall what they had experienced with him and to indulge their grief. Going to Galilee means realising that faith, if it is to be alive, must daily renew the surprise and joy of the first encounter.

Perhaps there is a call to us here too…to go to Galilee. We are invited to revisit the place, the moment, the feeling of our first encounter with Jesus – the moment we came to really know him as the love of our lives.

It may also be a moment to recall the first encounter with our vocation…be it as religious… as spouse…as parent…as priest…whatever your call in life – recall that first moment when you knew you had to say yes…you had to follow the invitation of your heart. We may be surprised again by the love we once knew, let it be rekindled and shared as joy and hope for others.

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