The myrrh-bearing women came to the tomb, bearing fragrant spices with which to care for the body of their Lord. This was an act of obedience, being performed according to the traditions of the Jews, to keep His body from corruption, and from the odor associated with that condition. The myrrh they brought would absorb the moisture of the body that would otherwise promote the decay of the flesh; and the myrrh, together with other herbs and spices, would give the body a sweet, rather than a foul, fragrance. So they came, out of a sense of duty; out of a sense of devotion; they came because of their love for the Lord. And so they were among the first to learn the good news from the angel: He is not here; Christ is risen from the dead.
Why do we celebrate the myrrh-bearing women? As is so often the case, the Church gives us this example for our instruction, for we are meant to be like them.
Consider that they are going to the tomb at the start of the day. We, too, should start our day with our attention focused upon the Lord, and of how we might offer service and devotion to Him. As they came bearing spices, we should also seek to bring to Him spiritual perfume: with humility, and meekness, and the love of peace that leads us to be of help and service to others. We should come to anoint His Body with the spiritual oils of love and mercy, of prayer and fasting, and of giving to meet the needs of others. In this, let us remember that His Body is the Church – our brothers and sisters in Christ; and even those who hate us, and are our enemies.
As they journeyed to the tomb, they wondered, who would roll away the stone from the sepulcher, so that they could enter to perform this service for His Body? When they arrived, they found the stone rolled away. For us, it is as if our hearts, too, were sealed with a great stone, which we, by ourselves, are unable to roll away. Our sins, and our ignorance, our indifference to the commands of our Lord, and to the needs of others, and the deadening of our conscience by our repeated sinful habits, make it seem as if Christ in our hearts is also dead and buried; and who shall roll away the stone for us? Do we even have such a desire, to have the stone rolled away, so that we might be with the Lord, living in our hearts? If we will but come to the tomb, desiring to see Him, repenting of our sins, praying that God will transform us and help us to struggle against our sins, will not the angel who guards us roll away the stone, and let us behold the living Lord within us?
Brothers and sisters: Let us strive to be like the myrrh-bearing women. Let us arise each day with a desire to draw near to our Lord, and render to Him the duty required of us as an act of love and devotion for Him. Let us love and care for each other; let us pray, and fast, and give alms, and struggle, that we might be a sweet fragrance before God and man. Let us do our part to labor with God to transform our hearts, stony with sin, to be rolled away, that we might bear the living heart of Christ, filled with love for God and man, and so show forth Him Who has risen from the dead, trampling down death by death for all the world to see.
Christ is risen!
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