"He is going before you"

"On entering the tomb they saw a young man

sitting on the right side, clothed in a white robe,

and they were utterly amazed.

He said to them, "Do not be amazed!

You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified.

He has been raised; he is not here.

Behold the place where they laid him.

But go and tell his disciples and Peter,

'He is going before you to Galilee;

there you will see him, as he told you.'"

(Mk 16:5-7)

"... tell his disciples and Peter, 'He is going before you...'" 

Wow. What an amazing Holy Week, and Triduum. I'm sitting here tonight reflecting a bit on the past several days, and how blessed they really have been. 

It was hard to go to work today, knowing all the craziness I'd left there last Wednesday afternoon was going to be waiting for me to pick right back up and run with. I mean... really... we celebrated the resurrection of Christ from the dead yesterday, and today, it's back to the same old, same old, stuff? 

Yeah. Mmmmhmmmmmmm... I'm not buying it. Sure, we celebrate Easter every year, but does that make it any less important? Any less life-changing? How do we show the importance, the life-changing character of Easter to those around us for whom yesterday may have been just another Sunday? How do we do that? It takes courage, and faith... and the knowledge that, as the Gospel reminds us, Jesus goes before us. As much as this reading from St. Mark's Gospel (which, btw, was the Gospel at the Easter Vigil on Saturday night) is the angel giving the women who had to the tomb a message for Peter and the disciples, there's a clearly deeper meaning. The majority of the Lord's public ministry recorded in the Gospels, happened in Galilee. Yes, he was going ahead of them - going ahead of them into the ministry they were now to take on in his name, beginning where his own ministry had begun. 

I think that deeper meaning is meant for us, too - to remind us that wherever we go - wherever "Galilee" is for us - Jesus goes ahead of us there, too.  

+peace, and all good! Happy Easter Monday!