Wait for Me in Galilee

March 24, 2008

Monday in the Octave of Easter

By Beth DeCristofaro

God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he poured forth the promise of the Holy Spirit that he received from the Father, as you both see and hear... (Acts 2: 32-33)

You will show me the path to life, fullness of joys in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever. Alleluia. (Psalm 16:11)

Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went away quickly from the tomb, … And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. … Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” (Matthew 28: 8, 9, 10)

Piety

Alleluia, Lord Jesus. Son of righteousness, Son of Glory, Son of God, You are risen. I rejoice in you through the effusion of beams of glory, in the eternal uncreated heavens, in the rising of the s(u)n, in the hovering of the hawk, in the rolling away of the stone, in the eyes of my beloved, in the tears of my neighbor, in the work of my hands, in the hope in my heart. Alleluia, Lord Jesus. (with thanks to John Donne)

Study

http://www.usccb.org/nab/readings/032408.shtml

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is Risen! We pray and rejoice knowing that He surmounted death in his suffering, death and resurrection. He is Risen. He frees us. How difficult it is to accept and act in that freedom; we still hold tight to the in the wrappings of earthly limitation, loss, isolation, pain, sins, mistakes, affronts, failures, illness and disability. We cling to what we know even if it is uncomfortable.

Jesus told his followers, “Wait for me in Galilee.” He appeared to them in the flesh in his home region. Today, Galilee, his home, is in each of us. We wait for Him as he manifests himself within our inner being. The Cursillo tools (piety, study and action) aid us in waiting for Him, in being aware of his presence and being open to the promptings of the Spirit.

The mystic Meister Eckhart said “there is a place in the soul that neither space nor time nor flesh can touch” which is the divine within us. It is here Christ resides. Christ came to his followers in Galilee in a locked room and on a mountain top. There are no boundaries for Christ. He is waiting within our Galilee to show us the path of life.

Action

Jesus’ followers secreted themselves in fear until He brought the courage of the Holy Spirit upon them. Rejoicing that the Spirit has come, pray that the courage of the Holy Spirit is prompting you to leave the locked room and with the disciples to go forth with the Word of God on your lips. Is there a spiritual reading you have put off? Is there a charity or cause you have thought to support? Leave the tomb with the disciples and wait for Him in Galilee.

Archbishop Thomas Collins from St. Michael’s Cathedral in Toronto, Canada, has been leading lectio divino. There are clips posted on YouTube. http://youtube.com/watch?v=fLCLAhNDCms