Homily on the Third Sunday of Pascha being Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women.
Acts 6: 1-7 and Mark 15: 43-16:8.
In today’s readings there are two great themes the first being that of service and the second being that of the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour. In the reading from the book of Acts one reads the account of the ordination of the first deacons. One thing that is central to the ministry of a deacon is the concept of service. Although all men in major orders can be considered to be in a mystical sense ‘icons of Christ the servant’ it is specifically the deacon that represents this concept par excellence. Indeed, today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles makes this aspect of service clear as we read:
“Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, “it is not desirable that we should leave the word of God and serve tables. Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven good men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business; but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
Further to this, the All Holy Spirit, by instituting a major order whose main role is that of service to the community (in the world and at the Altar), is showing us that all orders of clergy are to be devoted to some form of service in Christ’s body the Church. Although, a priest is ordained to the major order of the presbyterate he will always still have the order of deacon as well - for a priest cannot become a priest without first being ordained a deacon! Moreover, it is clear that the All Holy Spirit has made this so, so as to constantly remind the priest or bishop that he is to model his ministry on the prefect servant – Christ the servant’. St Paul is clear in Ephesians 4:11-16 that:
“The gifts that he gave (the All Holy Spirit) were that some would be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until all of us come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ…”
The above passage makes it clear that all ranks of the clergy have important roles in the Body of Christ. Furthermore, all lay members have important roles in the Christ’s Body take for instance today’s Gospel which begins with Saint Joseph of Arimathea petitioning Pilot to have Christ’s body taken down from the cross so that he might bury it - this in and of itself is a great act of service. Saint Joseph is serving our Lord and Saviour by taking his precious Body and respectfully placing it in his tomb. Also, we read about the myrrh bearing women who were going to Christ’s tomb with spices and oils so as to anoint Christ in the traditional Jewish manner- this again is a form of service that they were going to render onto our Lord and Saviour. What this account highlights (in today’s Gospel) is that these women were called by the All Holy Trinity to service; highlighting the importance of lay service in the Church.
Oftentimes parishioners will express the sentiment that they are not important; thus, making the assumption that we clergy are somehow more important than them. This view is wrong as each and every member of Christ’s body is important as we each have unique roles to play in Christ’s Body the Church Again I reiterate each member is important to Christ even to the extent that Christ the Good Shepherd will leave the other ninety-nine sheep (in the care of the Church) so as to find that one lost sheep (John 10:1-21). What would the church be without the people who provide service such as bake the bread for the Holy Mysteries, sing in the choir, visit the sick and elderly? Without the people providing these services we the clergy would have a far harder time at ministering to our parishioners, as we are only human and do not have ten arms!
Finally, the last great theme in today’s Gospel is that of the joy of the resurrection. Imagine, how joyful it must have been for the Myrrh bearing Women to realise that our Lord and Saviour had just risen from the dead. In a way this is one of the greatest joys celebrated by Orthodoxy, in that our Lord and Saviour through his service (His death, burial and resurrection) has opened the gates of the kingdom of Heaven to all. Let us always be thankful to the Lord for his saving service – had he not suffered and died for our sake
we would not have the ability to enter into communion with the All Holy Trinity. Furthermore, we would not have the possibility of the resurrection on the last day!
Let us pray this week for all those who provide service in Christ’s Body the Church regardless of whether they are clergy or lay. Let us ask our Lord and Saviour that he may bless their efforts and through their efforts enable us the Church to bear much fruit.
Comments