Homily preached at the 18.00hrs Zoom Evening Prayer Service. (Login details on the St. Paul’s website) Fr. Leonard
Wednesday 6th May – Fr Leonard Dolan
On Sunday in our Anglican tradition the theme for the 4th Sunday of Easter focuses on the powerful and well known theme of the Shepherd. This theme is always linked to one of the Sundays in Easter, and sometimes it spreads over two Sundays – it depends which year we are in because our Sunday readings are on a three year cycle. It is a great image of the Christ who is our chief pastor.
The metaphor runs through a lot of normal church language. We speak of pastors, the Latin word for a shepherd. Even the word congregation comes from the Latin greges meaning a sheep. When priests are ordained that same image is used of a shepherd/sheep relationship as we are exhorted to place the image of the Good Shepherd before us – the Bonus Pastor.
It is a beautiful teaching from Christ – I am the Good Shepherd.
In the Orthodox tradition the same Sunday has a different focus. The second Sunday after Pascha is the Sunday of the Myrrh Bearers των Μυρόφερων. This is also a very beautiful theme, and one that isn’t given enough attention in the Anglican tradition. It tells of those women who came to Joseph of Arimathea’s garden to tend the body of Christ in the tomb. This couldn’t be done on the day of the burial, because it was both Sabbath and Passover.
Each of the gospels supplies different details about these faithful women. In total there are 8 that the Orthodox tradition names – Mary of Magdala, Mary (the Theotokos), Joanna, Salome, Mary the wife of Cleopas, Susanna, Mary of Bethany, and Martha of Bethany. All women who had been close to Christ, who had ministered to him in life, or who had received from him a ministry of compassion. One of them had of course brought expensive perfumed gum to anoint Christ’s feet at Bethany, a sign that was used to foretell death, and which resonates with one of the gifts brought by the Magi to the crib of Christ.
