My nephew Joseph was a bubbly three- year-old. He could equally be excited by a birthday toy that brightly blinked, loudly whistled and noisily changed and by the tiny details of raindrops and snowflakes. Joseph was open to enjoying the big and little things of life.

Easter is about being open, too. Didn't it begin with a wide open tomb? Didn't Jesus encourage the women not to fear, but to be open to what they saw and then go and tell others? They did, and all believed except Thomas. He wasn't open, he was reluctant. Yet, Jesus came and asked him to touch His open wounds and try again.

Too often we lack openness. We don't notice raindrops or snowflakes – just screeching whistles and blinking lights. Yet, Jesus encourages us to be open and look for Him in all our experiences, and then share Him with others. He asks us not to be closed.

Growth cannot happen if we cling to what we think is there and thus avoid seeing what is really before us. His disciples can't be the people who defend only one way of thinking or have a set image of who others should be. Jesus is alive in all kinds of people and places. Easter reminds us to push away the stone and see this truth again.

St. Francis de Sales invites us to be open too. He asks believers to be open in the small and large moments of their lives. "The gesture of the saint with his glass of cold water for the thirsty traveler may be small. Yet it is so pure in intention and perfect in kindness and love that this simple act becomes a spring of living water which brings everlasting life. "For Francis this is an Easter moment!