It is a time when it is appropriate to think of the gift of Christ in our lives and how the face of the risen Lord has brought purpose and warmth to our journey through life.

There are the early adult years when life beckons with the excitement of new beginnings. Creative work is begun, and new ways of doing things are explored and these often bring happy rewards. We seem to be so much part of the mission on Jesus. There are miracles to work and people to help in their misery. His message brings hope and growth to the people we work amongst. Our lives seem to reflect the lush growth and warmth of the Galilean countryside with its abundance of fish in its lake.

The Galilean scene changes as one moves along the journey of life. The scenery becomes harsher as one faces the responsibilities of commitments taken on earlier, which now must be lived through in daily demanding relationships. The face of Jesus moves with us on the road to Jerusalem. Painful decisions must be made and selfishness overcome in order to bring life to the people one loves and growth to the work one needs to accomplish. With Jesus treading the way with us, the journey is lightened and it brings its own sense of satisfaction and happiness that is found in the steps that are negotiated successfully.

There are disappointments, betrayals and painful events, but these are coped with a little more easily because of the love and the fellowship that is found on the journey. One experiences a sense of ever deepening meaning to one's life and a concomitant growth in one's ability to be a little wiser. We find ourselves more confident and realistic than we have ever been before.

The final journey to Calvary lies ahead. The journey in old age presents its own challenge. But having succeeded in coping with a thousand choices and challenges in the journey of life, the rest also will be accomplished with a sense of purpose and resolution, lived in the certainty that Christ has arisen and has appeared to those ‘who are the witnesses that God had already chosen.'  (Acts 10:42)


Sister Jennifer Alt O.P