Monday within Easter Octave – 05th April 2021 — Gospel: Matthew 28,8-15
Experiencing Jesus in familiar shores
Galilee has special meaning for Matthew. It’s the place where Jesus both began and ended his ministry. From this remote rural backwater he sent his disciples forth: “to all nations’. In today’s gospel Jesus promises that his disciples will see him there in Galilee. The resurrection experience doesn’t take place in the empty tomb rather it is made personal in Galilee. If you want to meet the risen Christ and experience the power of his resurrection, then you need to move forward to the familiar shores. Since Galilee is the place where Jesus did his ministry and where the disciples encountered Jesus many times, now the disciples are invited to go there, in order to have their personal experience with Jesus, the crucified and risen. The significance of all that Jesus said and did will take on its fullest meaning in the light of resurrection. That’s why the angel and Jesus himself commanded the women witnesses to tell the disciples to search for Jesus in Galilee. It’s there in Galilee and as a community gathered around the risen Christ the disciples will meet him, will share in his love, and where they will know that they are never alone.
