Third Sunday after Easter

-of Myrrh-bearing Women-

«The stone at the door of the tomb of our heart must be set aside»

In the sermon of the second Sunday after Easter, delivered in the cathedral of St. George in Saint Hubert, His Grace Bishop Ioan Casian referred to the power of the testimony of the Resurrection of Christ, given by myrrh-bearing women, a model of the Christian woman.

“The myrrh-bearing women came to the grave worried to do the right thing, but they did not know how to put aside the stone placed at the entrance of the tomb. To their surprise, the stone was set aside, and the tomb was empty. They also see an angel's appearance that puts them in front of a certainty. Why do you seek the living among the dead?  They, like the apostles, thought more about the material side of things, that the Body of Christ would go to earth. But Christ is resurrected with the transfigured Body and will appear with it. Almost every time the disciples do not recognize Him. The Savior reveals himself at the breaking of bread, a symbol of the Divine Liturgy, to Luke and Cleopas, showing that the One they see is the One who has died on the Cross.

This is a very important Sunday because we see that myrrh-bearing women become apostles of Christ, the first to notice that the tomb is empty. They announce the good news (the Gospel) that Christ has risen. We can say that they are the first apostles. They announce to the disciples that Christ is risen and they then go to Galilee and meet the Savior. The various meetings of the disciples with the risen Savior are mentioned in the morning at the Matins. Matins is for us the moment when we find that the tomb is empty, that Christ has risen. During the Divine Liturgy  we find Him risen, in the form of bread and wine, visiting us, giving Himself to us for our salvation.

Peter the Chrysolog, one of the commentators on Scripture, says as an exhortation: "Look at the Resurrection, the stone at the door of the tomb of our heart must be set aside" to see the resurrection of Christ. We must put aside this stone of unbelief that we have, in order to have the ability to see the risen Christ. The empty tomb is joy, not sadness, a testimony that God's promise has been fulfilled, because we learn that Christ is risen and that we will be resurrected with Him to eternal life.

Here is what we can say this Sunday about the myrrh-bearing women, those who greet us with the joy of the resurrection of Christ and the joy of our resurrection of all. Without an opening for the light of Christ to enter our hearts, we cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We cannot improve our life for the One who improves it is the Risen Christ when the stone of our sinful understanding is removed, and the light of God's grace can enter. It transfigures our lives.

The hierarch concluded the sermon by praying to God for the faithful, emphasizing the multiple meanings of this feast:

“May God strengthen us this week, let us tremble like them, of course with trembling and fear, for the Resurrection of Christ is no small thing. It is the work that gives us eternal life, that restores the world as God originally thought it. Let us rejoice in the joy of myrrh-bearing women.

Today's Sunday is dedicated to the family whose protectors are Saints Andronicus and Iunia, who preached the Gospel in the area of ​​Pannonia, today's Hungary. At the same time, it is the Sunday of Christian women, the first to profess the Resurrection, to proclaim the good news!”