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Two weeks after Easter in the Liturgical calendar of our Church, the Church celebrates the myrrh-bearing women. It is one of the most beautiful Sundays between Easter and Pentecost where our Church invites us not only to reflect upon the vitality and spontaneity of these women, but also their fearlessness and tenderness. Indeed, what’s more is the way in which the Gospel describes these women approaching the tomb of Christ; something which can be very instructive, as we will see below, in our relationship with our Lord. We are told that the myrrh-bearing women went very early in the morning, even before the sun had set, to the tomb where Jesus had been laid; and one question was continually on their minds: “who will role away for us the rock from the entrance of the tomb?”. Yet this difficulty did not deter them; quite the contrary, they persevered. And upon their arrival, they saw that the immoveable stone had in fact been rolled back.

We see that the myrrh-bearing women possessed an unwavering faith that, somehow, beyond the challenges, they would indeed achieve their goal: namely, to see Christ and cover him with the precious perfumes that they were carrying. Secondly, they displayed perseverance. The myrrh-bearing women were not frightened in any way by the fact that it was dark, nor by the fact that there were soldiers guarding the tomb, nor again by the size of the rock at the entrance of the tomb. There was no obstacle of nature that would stand in their way. Thirdly, the myrrh-bearing women displayed persistence: not only were they not deterred by anything, but, despite all barriers, they reflect a determination to reach their goal and to achieve their task no matter what.

How might this apply to us in the twenty-first century? Inside of each and everyone of us there is a stone before our heart. The Church fathers call this ‘hard-heartedness’ [σκληροκαρδία]. Very often, there is a stone which blocks our relationship with Christ and with other people. Yet it is only with faith, perseverance and persistence that this can be rolled away with the grace of Christ. Like the myrrh-bearing women, we too will only ever be able to discover the stone rolled away in our heart, if we have the courage to press and to open up a little more trusting in God’s love for us.

Upon further reflection, the myrrh-bearing women are a vivid reminder for us today that beyond the many challenges that we will inevitably have to face in life—some of which may even seem ‘immoveable’—we must persevere, and indeed be ready for the arduous struggle and the difficult labour involved if we genuinely want to follow Christ. Our motivation in all that we do, should be our love for God, our desire for our actions to be pleasing to Him solely through love, since He is the most worthy of all love! Indeed, if we persist in faith, then instead of death at the tomb, we too will find life; we too will find life directly and personally.

Philip Kariatlis