The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had ordered them. When they saw him, they worshiped, but they doubted.  Then Jesus approached and said to them, All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.  And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.

Introductory Prayer: Lord, help me to accept you as you are with an open mind and an open heart. Give me the grace to respond to your voice in my life, so that I can be a servant in your plan to transmit your message to my brothers and sisters.

Petition: My Father in Heaven and my God, give me the gift of faith in the resurrection of your Son, Jesus the Christ, who goes to plead for me at your right hand.

1. Galilean Faith

The disciples go to Galilee; what is the meaning of Galilee?  Those who lived in darkness have seen a great light, it is said of this place in Scripture.  A world that tries to be an end in itself apart from its Creator is also a dead end.  The world is terrorized by death and refusal to obey or believe, because it has closed itself to God, and man has no hope without him. By rejecting God man rejects the supernatural finality of his life. Christ has come to bring light to those who live in this darkness. The disciples are learning, since each of the appearances of our Lord has led to faith.  This faith has tremendous demands and consequences for the eleven disciples in this passage and also for us.

2. Resurrection The New Challenge

The disciples are tried by the radical fact of the resurrection. Some hesitate, as is mentioned again and again in the biblical accounts of Easter Sunday. Some, the Gospel says, refuse to believe on hearing. It was beyond the possibility of the natural that Jesus rise from the dead. It is in a sense impossible. In hearing that Christ had risen, the disciples are asked to believe in an entirely new reality, a reality that can be seen only with the assistance of faith. But faith also requires humility of openness to what I cant personally know and requires faith in the one who announces the message. To believe is to experience what the witness testifies to.

3. Jesus, Adam, and I

To go make disciples of the nations, to teach, to baptize, and to have them observe all that was commanded by Our Lord. To know the truth requires us to live up to it with authenticity, with responsibility. In the realm of faith, the truth about Our Lords divinity leads us to proclaim it because this is what he has commanded. Spiritual maturity - coherence between what we say, what we believe and what we do about it - is a duty for an adult Christian. The first Adam was asked to do obey and to work in the garden that God made for him. His sin shows incoherence between what he knew himself to be and what he did. Christ sends us out to renew the world by announcing to men the reality of God and his death and resurrection for us in the only Son. It can be very tempting to do nothing. If we do nothing, we do not believe, because if we believe, we believe in and heed the command that was given.

Conversation: Lord, give me a faith that is active.  So many times I walk in darkness because I live for myself and not your Kingdom. Transform me into your messenger to the world, as you did with the eleven disciples. Enlighten my interior so that though I walk in the valley of darkness I fear no evil, for you are with me. You are within me through this indwelling of the Holy Spirit; grant me the light to know your will.

Questionnaire:

1. Am I capable of seeing the signs that God sends into my life?  How supernatural of an outlook do I have?  Is it one that puts me in Gods loving providence?

2. How often do I exercise my faith so as to see in the men and women around me the Creators image?  Do I realize the importance of their getting to Heaven?

3. What have I done to follow Jesus' command of teaching the whole world?