On the 3rd Sunday of Pascha on which the Church commemorates the Myrrhbearing Women, Fr. Matthew Howell starts by offering an apology for the previous week’s outburst and then explains in a much calmer and better manner what he tried to convey in the previous week: the importance of hastening to be early or on time to Church to care for the Lord’s body (the Liturgy). He uses Zacchaeus as an example of the fruit of “hastening” to the Lord. He also talks about how the Myrrh-bearing women finished their work, and how we need to finish the work of repentance that we have started.
Previous Homilies for the 3rd Sunday of Pascha:
Anointing the Lord with the Myrrh of Our Life: Love – April 30, 2023 by Father Archimandrite Sergius Bowyer
The Disciples Scattered but the Myrrhbearing Women Stayed – May 8, 2022 by Fr. Matthew Howell
“Waiting for the Kingdom of God”: How to Live like Joseph of Arimathea – May 16, 2021 by Fr. Matthew Howell
Acts of the Apostles 6:1-7
In those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, “it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochoros, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaos, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Mark 15:43-47; 16:1-8
At that time, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “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.” And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
Christ is risen! Christos Anesti! Al Maseeh Qam! Christos Voskrese!
Today I will begin with an apology. Last week I issued a very heavy-handed and angry message concerning the problems of people being late to church—specifically late to liturgy– and receiving holy communion when arriving after the gospel of the liturgy.
St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 that “Love is patient, love is kind…[and] it is not easily angered.” The simple conclusion is that my message was not delivered with a spirit of love. As your priest and pastor, I am sorry and ask for your forgiveness for my tone and for lashing out at everyone last week. Please forgive me.
I am also thankful for the people who during the week very kindly addressed this with me, informing me of their feelings, of their opinions, and expressing concern about my well-being. Their kindness and loving admonishment taught me another lesson in how to approach people and made it easier for me to reflect on my sins and offer this apology today.
Regarding the content of the message I gave last week, I would like to try again because I believe it actually ties into the theme of this weekend, which is the faithfulness of the Myrrh-Bearing Women, Joseph of Arimathea, and Nicodemus, and the importance of hastening to be with our Lord Jesus Christ like Zacchaeus.
The question we need to ask ourselves is: are we merely consumers of spiritual things, or communicants with the uncreated incarnate God? When we come to liturgy, are we simply adding one more topping of spirituality to our busy lives, trying to fit in a little religion to ease our conscience? Or are we seeking to encounter God, to know His grace, to love the one who boundlessly Loves Mankind? Communion takes time and effort on our part investing in a relationship with God; consumerism turns relationships into impersonal transactions. Communion leads to healing of the soul; consumerism continues selfishness.
Communion is not consumption. Our culture has turned us into consumers. We are driven by our passions–more than our needs—to desire temporal things, to purchase unneeded items, and to hope for some sense of fulfillment from them. But communion with God is a dynamic relationship with the fullness of Personhood—it seeks no earthly whim. A consumer acts from duty or passion, as in “I’ll go to church to check the box, but I likely won’t be changed by it;” a communicant acts out of love, as in “I can’t wait to spend time with the God who loves me, who has promised to live in me, and who gave Himself for me” (Cf. Gal. 2:20). A communicant basks in the encounter and longs for more; a consumer can’t wait for it to be done so they can get on with their lives and do something “more fun.”
The myrrh-bearing women took care of the Lord’s body when He died, not out of obligation but as an offering of love, because even though He had died they still wanted to be with Him. They truly wanted to follow Him everywhere. So they helped Joseph and Nicodemus quickly bury him before nightfall, not finishing all their work because nightfall was the beginning of the Sabbath, and resting on the Sabbath was important for them because God said it was important. So they buried the body of Jesus, and then retreated to their dwellings in prayer and anticipation. They prepared the spices and eagerly awaited the chance to wake up early on Sunday morning to go finish their work. To go care for the Lord’s body again. Their whole life was centered around Christ, and there was no discussion of sleeping in on Sunday morning, either out of fear or laziness or tiredness or anything. They only discussed how they needed to finish what they started, and how they needed to be with the Lord.
Then before the break of dawn they headed toward the Lord’s tomb with their offering of ointments. They went to finish their work first. They were going to spend time with the Lord, and to care for His body, and this was the foremost important thing on their agenda for that day. They went early, and were on time. And then they were unexpectedly rewarded.
In their faithfulness to prepare themselves, in their effort to finish their work, and in their courage to carry out their act of love in caring for the Lord’s body, they became the Apostles to the Apostles, the messengers to the men who swore their allegiance to the Lord but then both fell asleep AND abandoned Him in his hours of distress, arrest, and humiliation. It was the women who were rewarded with the “breaking news” from the angels. It was the women who had the first look at the rolled back stone (rolled back not so that Jesus could get out, but so that they could get in); it was the women who had the first conversations with the heavenly heralds who proclaimed “He is risen! He is not here!” and it was the women who had the first opportunity to proclaim to the world that “Christ is risen!”, offering us a powerful greeting that enlivens our dry bones while shaking the Devil to his core.
The myrrh-bearing women cared for the body of the Lord, and made it their priority. They were early, and providentially were on time. Abbot Sergius from St. Tikhon Monastery says that “Caring for the Liturgy is caring for the Lord Himself.” Our Lord offers us His broken body and shed blood for eternal life, but simply asks for us to spend time with Him in order to commune via real, authentic and earnest relationship with Him. Instead, too often it feels like we drop in or drive-thru the liturgy. Maybe we take it for granted because God offers it so frequently. But the frequency of the gift should not diminish its importance or seriousness in our lives.
The Lord’s Supper is not merely a ritual but a profound act of worship and true communion that requires self-examination and reverence. It is real. And it is the most real thing we every participate in and partake of. Remember, we PARTAKE, we don’t TAKE; To “partake” is to RECEIVE the Lord’s body and blood; we don’t TAKE it, as in “Did you take communion today?” “Taking it” implies consumerism; receiving implies communion, a cherishing of the gift.
St. Paul tells the Corinthians “29For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. 30For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.” (1 Cor. 11:29-30). If God is a consuming fire, it takes time to prep the fireplace to receive the burning coal. And thus, when we approach too casually, we risk reducing the Liturgy to an act of make-believe, and actually put ourselves at risk of spiritual and even physical harm.
When we come to liturgy and arrive after the reading of the holy gospel, we are extremely late [especially considering that there is an hour of “warmup” prayer on Sundays before the Liturgy begins]. In such circumstances when we approach the chalice we do so with lack discernment, possibly with great faith but likely not enough awe and respect for the Lord’s gifts; and we risk partaking unto judgment or condemnation. When we habitually arrive late to church but on time to so many other events and activities, we show undoubtedly but maybe unintentionally that our priority in life is not relationship with the Lord but is the pursuit of something or someone else.
Remember three months ago when we started the Lenten cycle with Zacchaeus? Zacchaeus desired to know God in his person and to commune with Him. So he ran ahead to a sycamore tree and did everything possible to see the Lord. He prepared himself and did not allow himself to miss the moment. Then Christ said, “Hasten and come down!” Fr. Zacharias of Essex says:
“Zacchaeus understood that if he truly desired to meet with the Lord Himself, he would have to add humility to his desire. And if he wanted to respond to the greatness of the honour of receiving the Lord in his house, he would need to respond in all haste. And so he did: ‘He made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully’ (Luke 19:5). His joy was the joy of salvation, the joy of encountering the Saviour Jesus” (Archimandrite Zacharias Zacharou, Remember Thy First Love, p 72)
The Lord invites us to His house each week and calls us to be communicants with Him. He invites us to partake of the joy of His salvation at each service, whether a sacrament is served or not. We must “come down” and humble ourselves by honestly calling out and actually correcting our misplaced priorities. We must “hasten” to prepare the house of our soul—our own heart—to receive the Lord, so that this encounter may be unto eternal life rather than condemnation, that it may be unto healing rather than to the detriment of our soul and body; that it may build relationship with God rather than reduce the gift to a transaction.
We have all started our work of repentance, but let us not slack off or become “lukewarm” as John says in Revelation 3:16 simply because the consequences or rewards are not immediately seen. Let us Hasten like Zacchaeus to be on time to the house of God, and prepare ourselves properly to finish our work of repentance faithfully like the myrrh-bearing women. Let us be actively connected communicants with the Lord that seek to know Him truly and love Him deeply; let us not settle for becoming passive, indifferent, and/or casual consumers of holy mysteries.
Let us give our lives as fine linens in constant contact with Christ’s life-giving body; let us offer our time as scented myrrh and our tears as precious aloes to our Savior. And in so doing, let us encourage each other to keep working on our salvation and on our repentance until we hear the trumpets sound at the Second Coming of our Risen Lord, that we may join all the saints and angels in giving praise, honor, and glory to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, now and ever and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Christ is risen!