These Extraordinary Women

 CHRIST IS RISEN!

INDEED HE IS RISEN!


This past Sunday, the third of Pascha, we commemorated the Myrrhbearing Women, together with St. Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus. Joseph and Nicodemus were instrumental in the burial of the Lord. The Gospels are unanimous in telling us that Jesus was buried by Joseph of Arimathea in a "new tomb," St. Matthew stressing that it was a tomb that actually belonged to St. Joseph. The Synoptic Gospels of Sts. Matthew, Mark and Luke are also clear in relating that the myrrhbearing women looked on "and saw where He was laid." (MK. 15:47) It is these same "myrrhbearing women" who return to the tomb on the "first day of the week" (MK. 16:2) in order to lament and anoint the dead body of Jesus with spices, as "is the burial customs of the Jews." (JN. 19:40) Those we know by name are Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, Salome and Joanna; but there is also mention of "other women."

According to centuries of accumulated tradition and practice, it was customary among the Jews of Christ's time not to ascribe any "legal" authority to the testimony of women. That makes it rather inexplicable as to why the women are then the first to know of the Resurrection of Christ and to actually see the Risen Lord, with Mary Magdalene being the first human being to be accorded this awesome privilege. (JN. 20:11-18; MK. 16:9-11) However, all through His ministry, Christ treated women with a fresh sense of equality that was meant to remove any undue "prejudice." Christ had women disciples. (LK. 8:1-3) These women disciples remained loyal and committed to Christ even in death, when the "Jesus movement" appeared to be discredited and dissolved with His accursed death upon the cross. Everything was dead and buried with Jesus, to be forgotten in a matter of a short time, and to be lost to history with no real reason to justify its recovery. 

This is why explaining (away?) the emergence of the Church and the rise of Christianity without the Resurrection is so difficult and unconvincing. As my old Byzantine history professor once said to our class when describing the very beginning of Christianity, "something happened" of an extraordinary nature that accounted for the empty tomb. As an historian that was his way of referring to the Resurrection of Christ. There is really no other way to account for the fact that Jesus was believed in and worshipped.

Yet, the myrrhbearing women persisted in their loyalty to the Master even though they must have realized all of this. We can only surmise, but did the Lord "reward" these women for their loyalty by first proclaiming the Resurrection to them, before He did to the eleven disciples? If they were the only ones to come and minister to Him in death, then they would be the ones to behold Him alive after death. In an instant, the Risen Lord reversed centuries of prejudice by appointing the myrrhbearing women to be "apostles to the apostles." 

Intuitively, they went to the tomb, hoping to continue their ministry to Christ without having "figured out" beforehand the removal of the large stone that blocked access to the tomb: "Who will roll away the stone for us form the door of the tomb?" (MK. 16:3) Their anxiety and grief was transformed into surprise when they discovered that the stone had been removed from the entrance to the tomb. This in turn became amazement ("they were amazed" MK. 16:5) when they encountered "a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe" - clearly an angel. He addressed them with words that to this day thrill the heart of the believing Christian with the "good news" that will never be surpassed:

Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you. (MK. 16:6-7)

"Trembling and astonishment" in the presence of the numinous and holy, made tangible by the angel and his proclamation of the Resurrection, rendered them "afraid" and initially, at least, "they said nothing to any one." (MK. 16:8) Soon enough, however, the Gospel accounts make it clear that they spoke to the disciples. We can only imagine Mary Magdalene's reaction when "they would not believe it" when she told the disciples "that he was alive and had been seen by her!" (MK. 16:11) The Scriptures tell us nothing further of these remarkable women, an "omission" we can only lament. Various pious traditions developed over time, one of which has Mary Magdalene appear before the Emperor Tiberius Caesar in Rome and greet him with the words: "Christ is Risen!" while holding up before him an egg that slowly began turning a brilliant red in the process! 

In an age of betrayal, when even "Christians" are no longer willing or able to believe in the bodily Resurrection of Christ, we need to heed the words of the myrrhbearing women and imitate their loyalty, zeal, commitment and love of Christ. They were not proclaiming "an idle tale," as even the male disciples first believed according to St. Luke (24:11). They were witnessing to the Risen Lord and His conquest of death. If, in our daily lives, we could minister to the Lord in the same spirit, which would also mean ministering to others, because Christ is "in" the other, then perhaps we too would be "rewarded" with a greater certainty of faith in His presence as the risen and liviing Lord. The impression is indelible that the myrrhbearing women put Christ first, far above any other loyalties or loves. 

If and when we feel distant from Christ is it because we fail miserably at times to match that loyalty and love? Are we willing to come to the empty tomb regardless of what "common sense" or the daily obstacles of life throw up before us? Or are we easily tempted down another path that has nothing to do with Christ but only ourselves and our desires? These extraordinary women, who will be remembered and venerated until the end of time, present us with an enduring example and an unavoidable challenge.

Fragments for Friday

Source: bostonmonks.com

 "Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice, you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy." (Jn. 16:20)

"Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord." (Jn. 20:20)

At the midnight Paschal Liturgy, we heard the incomparable and magnificent Prologue from the Gospel According to St. John (1:1-18). In the Prologue, Christ is identified as the eternal Word of God who, though "with God" in the beginning - and who actually "was God" - "became flesh" (as Jesus of Nazareth), "and dwelt among us with full of grace and truth" (v.14). The evangelist John then reveals that: "No one has ever seen God; the only Son (or God, as in some manuscripts), who is in the bosom of the Father, he has made him known." (v.18) The Gospel is then the history of the Word made flesh as Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. His ministry is marked by seven "signs" (what we call miracles) to indicate the truthfulness of that claim to those who are open to believe. In fact, those who do believe are called and become "the children of God." (v. 12)

Once the Son of Man (Jesus) is "lifted up from the earth" (12:32), He will glorify the name of God (12:28). This was, of course, the Crucifixion. Following his resurrection, the risen Lord appears to his frightened disciples (20:19-23), grants them his peace, and commissions them through "breathing" the Holy Spirit upon them to proclaim his resurrection to the world. Thomas, one of the twelve was absent on that first day of the week; but he is then present eight days later (20:24-31). During this dramatic encounter, Thomas is transformed from being an unbeliever into a believer. And in the process, utters the greatest affirmation of the identity of Christ in the Gospels: "My Lord and my God!" (20:28) Thus, we have come full circle from the Prologue. The God who has never been seen, is now "seen" in the flesh, but more importantly through the eyes of faith, in the risen Lord, Jesus Christ. This is also called inclusio, bringing together a particular theme proclaimed earlier in the Gospel with its fulfillment later. The Prologue finds its fulfillment in the profession of faith made by the disciple Thomas.

What is so meaningful and hopeful to us who are here after such a great interval of time is revealed in the response of Jesus to Thomas' extraordinary exclamation of faith: "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." (20:29) Perhaps one of our great resurrectional hymns, chanted or sung at every Liturgy, is a elaboration of that wonderful "beatitude" spoken by the Lord: "Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless One ..." We have "beheld" the resurrection of Christ through the eyes of faith, and are thus enabled to worship the risen Lord as Thomas did - as our Lord and our God!

Midweek Morning Meditation

Source: saintgregorythetheologian.org

 On the Death and Resurrection of Christ

Yesterday, I was crucified with Him; today I am glorified with Him.

Yesterday, I died with Him today I am made alive with Him.

Yesterday, I was buried with Him, today I am raised up with Him.

Let us offer to Him Who suffered and rose again for us ... ourselves, the possession most precious to God and most proper.

Let us become like Christ, since Christ became like us.

Let us become Divine for His sake, since for us He became Man.

He assumed the worse that He might give us the better.

He became poor that by His poverty we might become rich.

He accepted the form of a servant  that we might win back our freedom.

He came down that we might be lifted up.

He was tempted that through Him we might conquer.

He was dishonored that He might glorify us.

He died that He might save us.

He ascended that He might draw to Himself us, who were thrown down through the fall of sin.

Let us give all, offer all, to Him who gave Himself a Ransom and Reconciliation for us.

We needed an incarnate God, a God put to death, that we might live.

We were put to death together with Him that we might be cleansed.

We rose again with Him because we were put to death with Him.

We were glorified with Him because we rose again with Him.

A few drops of Blood recreate the whole of creation!

   -- St. Gregory the Theologian, Easter Orations

Coffee with Sister Vassa: The Power of our Wounds

 

THE POWER OF OUR WOUNDS 

Why does the risen Lord still have His wounds, which Thomas is able to see and touch, so he believes it is none other than Christ, his King and his God? Because He wants still to have His wounds, as one of us, who also have our wounds. He shows us how to be wounded and yet free; and yet even joyous, and empowered to testify to others, also wounded, how to walk forward and to testify to the power of God in our lives. We don’t have to be perfect, either physically or otherwise, to be vessels of God’s unifying light, hope and all-forgiving love, in our world.

But oftentimes we might be ashamed of our wounds, or bitter about them, or resentful of others or ourselves, who inflicted the wounds. But our new life in Christ is not erasing our wounds, sometimes visible and sometimes invisible ones. Whether we have gone through a painful divorce, or lost our jobs or our homes, or were slandered or somehow betrayed by a loved one, or we ourselves have betrayed our loved ones, or have struggled with an addiction, or struggle with some other disease, - when we allow ourselves to follow our risen-and-still-wounded Lord, and embrace the new life and new hope with which He wants to embrace us, His imperfect and wounded followers, we find a new Way to move forward. And to return into communion with Him and others, if our wounds have been leading us to self-isolation, resentment or self-centered fear.

I was also thinking, on this Thomas Sunday, about the fact that Thomas and most of the other disciples abandoned our Lord, when His wounds were being inflicted on Him. And then they didn’t believe the women, that He is risen, although He told them repeatedly that He would be killed but would rise again. Yet He re-enters into their midst, despite their closed doors, and says, Peace, Shalom. He does admonish them for a lack of faith, but no apologies are demanded or made, not even in Peter’s case. What He does is He eats with them, and communion is restored. Thank You, Lord, for challenging us to unity, even as we struggle with our wounds. Let us not be ashamed of them, but testify to them as did You, as we walk forward into Your new freedom and new happiness.

Fragments for Friday

Source: oca.org

 CHRIST IS RISEN!  INDEED HE IS RISEN!

Having beheld the Resurrection of Christ, let us worship the holy Lord Jesus, the only sinless One ...

It is already Bright Friday, but I would like to look back at Holy Week and Pascha - just celebrated last week! Thus, we have so recently completed our annual celebration of Holy Week and Pascha after the forty days of Great Lent. I have now served this, the "Feast of Feasts," here in the parish from 1990-2025. That would include our "Covid Pascha" of 2020, during in which only three of us - Presvytera Deborah, Ralph Sidway, and I - served the entire Holy Week and Pascha alone when Covid restrictions were at their peek. That is now thirty-five years, and it remains a joy to be able to continue serving this great annual feast on behalf of, and with all of the faithful of our parish. 

There is always the danger that each annual celebration can simply become indistinguishable from all the others, as they are the same in terms of structure and content. But each year is unique and it is that uniqueness that fills us with the energy and effort to make the Pascha we are serving as fresh and enlivening as possible. Or rather, it is the presence of Christ that accomplishes that on our behalf.

The Feast of Pascha is meant for the entire parish community: the clergy, the servers, the choir and the congregation of the faithful. Each person has his/her ministry within the parish. Truly a communal effort as we assemble together as the local Body of Christ to praise the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. There are different levels of reality, but at the apex of those levels is Christ crucified and risen. Only the paschal mystery brings meaning to the rest of our lives and to our final destiny of life with God. 

The holy doors on the iconostasis have remained open all during Bright Week, to visually express the reality of the Kingdom of God, "open" to us all and in our midst. Those holy doors will be closed on Saturday right before we begin Great Vespers as we bid farewell to Bright Week and as a bit of the light of the Resurrection begins to dim as we move away from the "night brighter than the day." So, we most always translate the visible to the invisible interior of our minds and hearts; and the outward to the inward. That leads us to examine our faith and ask ourselves where the treasure of our heart is.

As the incomparable Canon of Pascha announces to us:

Let us purify our senses and we shall see Christ shining in the unapproachable light of His resurrection. We shall clearly hear Him say: Rejoice, as we sing the song of victory.