After paschal celebration slows down in the weeks following the Feast, we are being reminiscent of Myrrhbearing Women - an image – living icon of paschal marvel, exuberating wonder.
An image of love, self-giving, care and compassion. If we listen attentively to the magnificent hymns of the Troparion, we can hear the angelic announcement they heard and share their profound sense of awe and joy they experienced. Simple, yet extraordinary characteristics of women as a pillar of faithfulness, her silent loving presence and perseverance in belief that victorious Life is center of her life. In the midst of our usual, every day life – shopping, taking the kids to school, sitting through office meetings, fighting traffic, or battling anxieties in the middle of the night – in the midst of all of it, that image of the Myrrhbearing Women extends an invitation. It engages us to step out of ourselves for a while, and with them to enter the tomb where our Lord was laid. It welcomes us to contemplate the mystery of the empty shroud, together with the angelic proclamation, "He is not here, He is risen!"
That awe and that wonder can lift us out of our ordinariness, not just for a moment, but to embrace it as our way of life, and give us a glimpse, a blessed foretaste, of Kingdom of God.