Christ is risen!
On this Third Sunday of Pascha, we continue to contemplate the world-changing reality of the empty Tomb. In particular, this Sunday calls us to contemplate our role in bringing news of this reality to our fellowman. Last Sunday, Thomas Sunday, took place in the intimate setting of the sealed upper room; we saw how a single disciple, a single heart, could be changed by direct encounter with the Risen Christ. This Sunday, however, we consider the Myrrh-bearers, and how an angel commanded them to proclaim the Resurrection to the apostles. After all that we have seen and heard, how are we called to share this light, joy, peace, and hope with others? An angel brought a message to the women, the women shared it with the apostles, the apostles shared it with others, and finally that message has reached us. How shall we continue to pass this message – this all-powerful, all-transformative word of Christ’s Resurrection? – on to those whom God has placed in our lives?
We need not get carried away. “Are all apostles?” asks St. Paul rhetorically, and the implied answer is “no.” The angel, the women, the apostles: each of these had a different role in announcing the Gospel. We don’t all have to be missionaries to distant lands or street-corner evangelists. But all of us may announce the power of the Resurrection by forgiving wrongs, living in the joy of Christ’s victory, striving to conduct ourselves in accordance with the Gospel, and repenting with hope when we fail. In this way at least we can bear a meek and quiet witness to others – and to ourselves – concerning the life-changing power of Christ’s Pascha.