The great joy of the Resurrection comes from our love of God. We rejoice that He has come to us in the incarnation for we desire to be near Him. We rejoice to hear His words for He tells us of His life, which we desire to share. We rejoice when we hear and see His Resurrection for the one that we love was torn from us and has now returned to us. We also rejoice in the Resurrection for we know that He has defeated our old enemy death and the sin that had enslaved us and held us captive. Death and sin had separated us from our beloved Lord in an essential and basic manner that we could not overcome. He, however, took it upon Himself to defeat our enemies: sin death and the devil; and to free us from our captivity and so remove that wall of separation that prevented us from union and communion with Himself – the One Whom we love and desire above all else.
Today, as we hear in the Gospel about the myrrh-bearing women and in the Epistle about the appointing of the deacons, we are reminded of a very important aspect of the love of God that is the source of our joy. Jesus Christ taught us that our love for God is expressed also in our love for our neighbor. Love is not simply a warm and fuzzy feeling, but it is action. Our love for God impels us to keep His commandments, to live in obedience to His direction. Our love for God moves us to act as He would, loving not only ourselves and our friends, but also to love our neighbor whoever he might be and even our enemy.
The myrrh-bearing women were moved by their love to come and anoint the dead corpse of the God/man Jesus Christ. As far as they knew, He had died and lay in the tomb. They came to care for His body, an act of love that is great for there is no return. No matter how kind we are to the bodies of the dead, they will not reward us, nor will they even show the slightest smile or gesture of appreciation. The body will simply lie there and receive all that we give and return nothing to us. Only those who have a great love for the one who had died will come to the body and care for it – for there is no other motivation, no other reward for doing so. In the Holy Myrrh-bearers we see love in action.
Also within the Church we see this same self sacrificing love continuing. The Holy Apostles were the leaders of the Church from the beginning. They were preaching and teaching and praying for the people. They also acted as caretakers, receiving the gifts of the people and distributing to the poor so that all were cared for. This task became so great that it interfered with the teaching and prayer of the Apostles and so they had to take action. They did not simply discontinue receiving gifts and giving to the poor, but rather they sought out and appointed deacons – servers – to whom then they delegated the task of caring for the needs of the faithful. The deacons were, and are, those who express the active love of the Church as a whole. The Apostles knew that it was not enough for those in the Church to simply pray and learn and study the scriptures. In order to love God, it is also necessary to love others and to care for them, even the least among us. Thus they appointed deacons to whom they entrusted this task of active love while they themselves continued to care for the spiritual needs of the people.
From these two examples we are instructed in our joy over the resurrection not to forget the absolute necessity of loving others. Our love of God is the source of our joy. Out of this same love of God flows our love for one another and even more our love for the whole world. If we say we love God and desire to be with Him, we are also compelled to share His love for the world. Just as He showers the sun and the rain and the bounty of the earth upon all without discrimination and regardless of merit, so also we who love God and desire to be united to Him will also give of the bounty that God has given us to those around us. Not only will we pray for the peace of the world, but we will act in a peaceful way towards others. Not only will we pray for the welfare of the poor and the sick and the imprisoned, but we will go to them and share with them all that we have. Not only will we pray for their salvation, but we will also live the life of Christ before them so that they too can come to the love of God and so be moved to seek Him on their own.
We rejoice today in the joy of the Resurrection. That joy finds its root and source in our love of God. Just as the myrrh-bearers and the apostles and deacons moved to express their love for God not only in words, but also in loving action towards others so also we out of our joy and rejoicing will move to loving action towards all those we meet. In this way we imitate our Lord whom we love and we act in union with Him towards the whole world. We become His hands and His voice expressing His love to the whole world. We are living then in union with Him therefore our love and our joy are made full.
