Galilee! The place we first me Jesus.

In the joy of Easter, a simple but powerful instruction echoes in the Gospel of Matthew: “Go to Galilee, and there they will see me.” At first, this may seem like a geographical detail, but it carries a deep spiritual meaning. Galilee is not just a place on a map, it is the place of first encounter, the place where everything began. For the apostles, Galilee was where Jesus first called them, where they left their nets, their old lives, and began a new journey with Him. It was in Galilee that they saw His miracles, heard His teachings, and experienced His love. It was their “first love,” their first “yes,” their first encounter with the living God. After the confusion, fear, and failure of the Passion, after betrayal, denial, and abandonment, Jesus does not meet them in Jerusalem, the place of their shame. Instead, He invites them back to Galilee. Why? Because Galilee is the place of grace, the place of beginnings. It is where their relationship with Him started, before everything became complicated. In calling them back, Jesus is offering them a fresh start. This speaks directly to us. Each of us has a “Galilee” a moment, a place, an experience where we first encountered the Lord. It may have been in prayer, in a retreat, in a moment of need, or through the love of others. That first encounter is precious. It is where faith was born, where our hearts were touched, where we first recognized that God is real and that He loves us personally. But like the apostles, we sometimes drift away. Life happens. We fall, we struggle, we forget. Easter reminds us that failure is not the end. The risen Christ calls us back, not to condemn us, but to renew us. “Go back to Galilee.” Go back to that place of encounter. Remember the joy, the clarity, the love you first experienced. Peter, in the Acts of the Apostles, now stands boldly to proclaim the Resurrection. The same Peter who denied Jesus has become a fearless witness. What changed? He returned to his “Galilee.” He encountered the risen Lord again and received a new beginning. Galilee, therefore, is not just a memory, it is a living invitation. It calls us to rediscover our first love, to renew our commitment, and to begin again with Christ. The Resurrection assures us that no matter how far we have gone, we can always return. Today, the Lord is calling each of us: “Go back to Galilee.” Go back to where you first met Him. There, you will see Him again, not as before, but in a deeper, more life-giving way. And from that renewed encounter, like the apostles, we are sent out with joy to proclaim that Christ is truly risen!