The early Celtic Christians had a wonderful saying that reflects their Easter faith. Their goal and vocation in life was to "wander this earth seeking their place of resurrection." This evocative idea is reflected in the lives of some famous Irish saints including St. Patrick. Most Irish saints seemed to know when their hour of death was near. So when Patrick's time came he wanted to be buried in Armagh, his Episcopal centre. His guardian spirit from the time of his teenage captivity pointed him in another direction and ordered him to “return to the place from which you came." [1]

Another holy man, Brendan the navigator, travelled far and wide around the British Isles and into the western seas to bring the “Good News” where none had gone before. Legend has it that he even reached the shores of the new world. Be that as it may, when his time came, he received communion and said “God is calling me to the eternal kingdom. My body must be taken to Clonfert, for angels will be in attendance…and there is my place of resurrection.”(p.66)

A third witness to this spirituality is a little known Irish woman known as Canair–or Canerra.  She lived a solitary life as a hermit near Bantry bay. But when her death day was approaching she had a vision. In it all of Ireland’s churches were lit up like towers of fire. One in particular stood out. It rose from Scattery island where Senan, another hermit lived. At first he was reluctant to receive her on his island refuge. She persisted and won him over such that he exclaimed “Yes, Canair, a place of resurrection will be given you here on the brink of the waves.”(p.78)

So whether they were wandering evangelists or stationary hermits they all sought to be, and to end, where God had called them. Jesus was their example. He set his face for Jerusalem and death on a cross. But Jerusalem was also his place of resurrection. Jesus rose on this good earth, and so will we. The earth too and all of creation will share in the liberation of the children of God. (Rom. 8: 21) Heaven is not far away or later. It begins now with the graced life bestowed on us as sheer gift. The lives of the baptized are truly “hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3: 3) The new creation begins with Easter and is completed in “The New Jerusalem.” (Rev. 21:2)

[i]  Sellner, Edward C. Wisdom of the Celtic Saints. Notre Dame: Ave Maria Press, 1993, p. 189.