In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen.
Christ is risen!
Where were the Disciples? The Eleven, those remaining after the falling away of Judas Iscariot, were cowering “the doors [being] shut … for fear of the Jews,” (John 20:19) except the Beloved Disciple. So it was left to Joseph of Arimathea to intercede before Pilate, to remove Christ’s body from the Cross and bury him alongside Nicodemus and the women disciples. And, on the third day, it was the women alone who went to the Lord to do for him what was necessary.
Where were the Eleven? They remained in fear while the others acted with boldness, they remained motionless while the women acted with love, they remained trapped in fright while Joseph stood begging before the Governor for the Lord.
And I am forced to face the question: where am I? Am I as the Eleven, or am I as the Theotokos, Mary Magdalene; Mary, the wife of Cleopas; Joanna the wife of Chuza; Salome the mother of the sons of Zebedee; Susanna; and Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus? When I am needed, am I cowering with fear or am I active in the work of the Lord? For the Eleven, yes they hid themselves, but when Pentecost came they spoke with boldness and,
Their proclamation went forth into all the earth,
Psalm 18:5 ʟxx
And their words to the ends of the world.
What is my excuse for inaction?
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, the Lord is calling for us to hew out the rock of our hearts—to remove that which is earthly through prayer and asceticism, to change, to repent. And having removed that which weighs us down we may, as the tomb of the Lord, receive the Word of God—receive him through hearing the proclamation of the Gospel and receive him through the Eucharist—that we too may be emboldened to act when action is necessary and to speak when words are needed, that we,
sanctify the Lord God in [our] hearts, and always be ready to give a defence to everyone who asks [us] a reason for the hope that is in [us], with meekness and fear;
First Peter 3:15–18
having a good conscience, that when they defame [us] as evildoers, those who revile [our] good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.
Let us then, dear brothers and sisters, learn from the examples of the Myrrh-bearers, of Joseph and Nicodemus, and too from the examples of the Twelve and the Seventy Apostles, from the examples of the martyrs, the confessors, the hierarchs, and all the saints, and hew out our hearts to make room for the Lord that we may be his Body and proclaim the Resurrection to our world with boldness and daring thereby we may come to deeper knowledge of him, union with him, and receive eternal Life.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
To our crucified and risen Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who offers himself to us freely, be all glory, honour and worship, together with his unoriginate Father and the All-holy, Good and Life-creating Spirit. Amen.
In those days, when the disciples were increasing in number, the Hellenists murmured against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily distribution. And the twelve summoned the body of the disciples and said, “it is not right that we should give up preaching the word of God to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this duty. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.” And what they said pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochoros, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaos, a proselyte of Antioch. These they set before the apostles, and they prayed and laid their hands upon them. And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
— Acts of the Apostles 6:1–7
At that time, Joseph of Arimathea, a respected member of the council, who was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, took courage and went to Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus. And Pilate wondered if he were already dead; and summoning the centurion, he asked him whether he was already dead. And when he learned from the centurion that he was dead, he granted the body to Joseph. And he bought a linen shroud, and taking him down, wrapped him in the linen shroud, and laid him in a tomb which had been hewn out of the rock; and he rolled a stone against the door of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw where he was laid. And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week they went to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the door of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone was rolled back; for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe; and they were amazed. And he said to them, “Do not be amazed; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen, he is not here; see the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him, as he told you.” And they went out and fled from the tomb; for trembling and astonishment had come upon them; and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.
— Mark 15:43–47, 16:1–8