From the fifth reading of the Easter Vigil: "Thus says the LORD: All you who are thirsty, come to the water! You who have no money, come, receive grain and eat; come, without paying and without cost, drink wine and milk! Why spend your money for what is not bread, your wages for what fails to satisfy? Heed me, and you shall eat well, you shall delight in rich fare. Come to me heedfully, listen, that you may have life."
From the gospel of the Easter Vigil: "When the sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go and anoint him. Very early when the sun had risen, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb. They were saying to one another, 'Who will roll back the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?' When they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back; it was very large. 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.'"
The disciples were to go to Galilee to see the resurrected Jesus, just as Jesus told them. Galilee was home, and Jesus told them that he would go ahead of them there. Why is this so important? The new life of the resurrection is brought to us where we are. As the disciples heard on Easter morning, so too, all of us will see on the road, in school, shopping, in all our daily activities.
What does this new life mean? What changes should Easter bring? Isaiah's description of having life when the Messiah arrives speaks to us particularly as educators. Let all who are thirsty, without money, in need, and not receiving what they need come to us, for in the education we offer, we provide that which satisfies their thirst, not for wealth or simply technical training, but for understanding, truth, beauty; a deeper, more satisfying, foundational understanding of their life and their connectedness with each other and God.
As "ambassadors and ministers of Jesus Christ" (Med. 195.2), we are called to bring and share this new life. May the blessings of Easter be upon us daily as we do so!
Live, Jesus, in our hearts!