On 19th May the Sunday of the Holy Myrrhbearers. Archbishop Ioannis of Zambia officiated Divine Liturgy at St Basilios & Demetrios Parish in Lusaka , immediately after the Divine Liturgy a group of children joined into the Orthodox Faith through the Mystery of Baptism.
The honily if his Eminence Archbishop Ioannis on the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women
Beloved sisters and brothers in the Risen Christ, Χριστὸς Ἀνέστη!
today we celebrate the Holy Myrrh-Bearing -Myrophoroi -women. The day commemorates the women disciples who left their homeland and followed our Lord they ministered unto Him out of their own possessions, even until His crucifixion and entombment; and afterwards, neither losing faith in Him after His death, nor fearing the wrath of the Jewish rulers, they came to the tomb to anoint his body with myrrh-oils .
It is because of the myrrh-oils, that these God-loving women brought to the tomb of Jesus that they are called the Myrrh-bearers.
Emphasizing on the crucial impact of the women’s input in our society, Saint Basil the Great says that “as there’s no life without women, in the same way there’s no Church without women”.
When the disciples of Christ abandon him hiding behind a locked door in fear of Jewish, these Wonderful Women stood up and actively proved their love to Our Lord, risking their lives, they took courage to honour with dignity our Saviour. The Samaritan woman was the first person to whom Jesus revealed himself as Messiah,Yet, in Scripture we find Jesus crushing the societal norms and treating women with honor, respect and love. Women are so important to Jesus that it was two women who first witnessed evidence of His resurrection.The women of Scripture are the first examples of how God sees them and loves them as women.
Today the Mother Church is inviting us to imitate the “Myrrh-bearing Women “and It offers us a great opportunity to honor the faith and courage of women for they Courage, empowerment, they relieve us when we are down, they have got the spirit of the “ANASTASI” (Resurrection), of Revolution and the remedy to our insufficiency..
May we all have their blessing and get inspired by them.
Archbishop further extended his gratitude to the Greek Community for extending a helping hand at the mission he further likened all the ladies in the Greek Community who are always available to offer helping hand ,also to Mr Angelos who always have been tirelessly working hard and reminded to the berthren that when music school will be on truck it will be for the glory of God
At the end of his homily, the Archbishop wished everyone all the best and hoped that they would all have the enlightenment of God in their lives
It was a joyous moment for all the baptized when they engaged in the mystery of Holy Unction and immediately received Holy Communion which is the body and blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who died on the Cross and resurrected on the third day for the redemption of mankind from sin.
A love feast or agape feast was followed for the whole congregation.
