Feasts. Calendar
Sunday of the Myrrh-bearing Women
By Metropolitan Anthony of Sourozh
May 7, 2006, 00:54

We  remember  today  the  Myrrh-bearing women, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus,  people  who  in  the  course  of  the  Gospel  are  hardly mentioned,  yet  who,  when Christ was seemingly defeated, when death, rejection,  betrayal  and hatred had conquered, proved to be people of faithfulness  and  courage,  the  faithfulness  of  the  heart and the courage  that  can  be  born  only  of  love.  At  the  moment  of the Crucifixion all the Apostles had fled save one, John, who stood at the foot  of the Cross with the Mother of God. Everyone else had abandoned Christ, only a small group of women stood at a short distance from the Cross, and when He had died, they came to anoint His Body which Joseph of Arimathea had sought from Pilate, unafraid of being recognised as a disciple,  because  in  life  and  in  death love and faithfulness had conquered.

Let  us  reflect  on this. It is easy to be Christ's disciples when we are  on  the  crest of the wave, in the security of countries where no persecution,  no  rejection  is  endured,  no  betrayal can lead us to martyrdom, or simply to becoming the victims of mockery and rejection.

Let  us  think  of  ourselves  not  in regard to Christ alone but with regard  to one another, because Christ has said that what we have done to  any one of us, to the smallest, to the most insignificant, we have done to Him.

Let  us  ask ourselves how we behave when someone is rejected, mocked, ostracised, condemned by public opinion or by the opinion of those who mean  something  to  us,  whether  at  that  moment  our heart remains faithful,  whether at that moment we find courage to say, He was, and he  remains  my  friend whether you accept or reject him. There is no greater  measure  of faithfulness than that faithfulness which is made manifest in defeat. Let us consider this, because we all are defeated, we  are  defeated in so many ways. We all strive, with whatever energy we  have  -  a  little  or  much,  to be what we should be, and we are defeated  at  every moment.

Should we not look at one another not only with compassion, but with the faithfulness of friends who are prepared to stand by a person who falls, falls away from grace, falls away from his own ideal, frustrates all hopes and expectations which we have set on  him  or  her. At that time let us stand by, at that time let us be faithful  and  prove  that our love was not conditioned by the hope of victory  but  was  a wholehearted gift, gratuitous, joyful, wonderful.
Amen.
                            ----
                     Christ is risen!

Source: www.metropolit-antony.org