Patrick Comerford
Easter Day (20 April 2025) has dawned, after spending last night at the magnificent Easter liturgy in the Church of the Four Martyrs in Rethymnon.
I am spending these days in Rethymnon, and I spent much of yesterday in Iraklion at a long and lingering lunch with a friend I have known for almost 20 years.
I awoke this morning, once again, to the peals of the bells of the Church of the Four Martyrs, which is almost next door to the Hotel Brascos where I am staying, and of the cathedral nearby. I spent many hours last night last night at the Easter Liturgy in the Church of the Four Martyrs, and I am about to head back to the church later this morning.
I spent much of yesterday with an old friend over a long lingering lunch in Iraklion, where I also visited many churches. Later this afternoon I hope to have lunch with a visiting friend from Ireland in the harbour village of Panormos, east of Rethymnon.
Today is also the closing day of Passover in the Jewish calendar. But, before this day begins, I am taking some quiet time this morning to give thanks, to reflect, to pray and to read in these ways:
1, reading today’s Gospel reading;
2, a short reflection;
3, a prayer from the USPG prayer diary;
4, the Collects and Post-Communion prayer of the day.
John 20: 1-18 (NRSVA):
1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the tomb. 2 So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, ‘They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.’ 3 Then Peter and the other disciple set out and went towards the tomb. 4 The two were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent down to look in and saw the linen wrappings lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen wrappings lying there, 7 and the cloth that had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen wrappings but rolled up in a place by itself. 8 Then the other disciple, who reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; 9 for as yet they did not understand the scripture, that he must rise from the dead. 10 Then the disciples returned to their homes.
11 But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb; 12 and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had been lying, one at the head and the other at the feet. 13 They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ 14 When she had said this, she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? For whom are you looking?’ Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, ‘Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.’ 16 Jesus said to her, ‘Mary!’ She turned and said to him in Hebrew, ‘Rabbouni!’ (which means Teacher). 17 Jesus said to her, ‘Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God”.’ 18 Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord’; and she told them that he had said these things to her.
Today’s Reflection:
Early on the Sunday morning (‘the first day of the week’) after the Crucifixion, before dawn, Mary Magdalene, who has been a witness to Christ’s death and burial, comes to the tomb and finds that the stone has been rolled away.
Initially it seems she is on her own, for she alone is named. But later she describes her experiences using the word ‘we,’ which indicates she was with other women.
In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, these women are known as the Holy Myrrhbearers (Μυροφόροι). The Myrrhbearers are traditionally listed as: Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother of James and Joses, Mary, the wife of Cleopas, Martha of Bethany, sister of Lazarus, Mary of Bethany, sister of Lazarus, Joanna, the wife of Chuza the steward of Herod Antipas, and Salome, the mother of James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and Susanna, although it is generally said that there are other Myrrhbearers whose names are not known.
Mary and these women run to tell Saint Peter and the other disciple (presumably Saint John the Evangelist) that they suspect someone has removed the body. The ‘other disciple’ may have been younger and fitter, for he outruns Saint Peter. The tidy way the linen wrappings and the shroud have been folded or rolled up shows that the body has not been stolen. They believe, yet they do not understand; they return home without any explanations.
But Mary still thinks Christ’s body has been removed or stolen, and she returns to the cemetery. In her grief, she sees ‘two angels in white’ sitting where the body had been lying, one at the head, and one at the feet. They speak to her and then she turns around sees Christ, but only recognises him when he calls her by name.
Peter and John have returned without seeing the Risen Lord. It is left to Mary to tell the Disciples that she has seen the Lord. Mary Magdalene is the first witness of the Resurrection.
All four gospels are unanimous in telling us that the women are the earliest witnesses to the Risen Christ. In Saint John’s Gospel, the Risen Christ sends Mary Magdalene to tell the other disciples what she had seen. Mary becomes the apostle to the apostles.
The word apostle comes from the Greek ἀπόστολος (apóstólos), formed from the prefix ἀπό- (apó-, ‘from’) and the root στέλλω (stéllō, ‘I send,’ ‘I depart’). So, the Greek word ἀπόστολος (apóstolos) or apostle means one who is sent.
In addition, at the end of the reading (see verse 18), Mary comes announcing what she has seen. The word used here (ἀγγέλλουσα, angéllousa) is from the word that gives us the Annunciation, the proclamation of the good news, the proclamation of the Gospel (Εὐαγγέλιον, Evangélion). Mary, in her proclamation of the Gospel of the Resurrection, is not only the apostle to the apostles, but she is also the first of the evangelists.
Χριστὸς ἀνέστη!
Christ is Risen!
Today’s Prayers (Sunday 20 April 2025, Easter Day):
‘Cross-Cultural Mission at Manchester Airport’ provides the theme this week in ‘Pray With the World Church’, the Prayer Diary of the Anglican mission agency USPG (United Society Partners in the Gospel).’ This theme is introduced today with reflections by the Revd Debbie Sawyer, Pastoral Chaplain in the Church in Wales and Airport Chaplain, Manchester:
Read Acts 10: 34-43
Following the glory of Easter, we focus on the renewal of our covenant and relationship with God as a personal reminder of how we remain within in His Kingdom. Striving to be inclusive within our own faith of all who we meet, we are bound to offer compassion and kindness … and not only to those who already share in His Kingdom. Our troubled world often presents this as a challenge, but as an airport chaplain the need to offer support and guidance across the global spectrum of cultures and faiths, or no faiths, is the very essence of our ministry.
Daily, we encounter displaced people, people fleeing from cultural or domestic adversity, or modern slavery. All receive the warmest welcome into the ‘kingdom’ of our chaplaincy. Just as Peter realised God did not show partiality, neither do we.
The Kingdom of God formed the heart of Jesus’ proclamation in his own mission. It is there for everyone who wishes to enter, with righteousness and repentance as the entry requirements. So often though we witness life dictating otherwise as some simply fall from their righteous pathway through life needing help and redirection.
Airport chaplaincy also forms close connections with staff as we dip in and out of lives affected by bereavement, financial difficulties, and joys too of course!
Regardless of our chaplain’s faith or that of our guests, we are so fortunate to share the peace of God given for ALL people.
The USPG Prayer Diary today (Sunday 20 April 2025, Easter Day) invites us to pray, reading and meditating on this verse:
‘O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever!’ (Psalm 118: 1).
The Collect:
Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.
The Post-Communion Prayer:
God of Life,
who for our redemption gave your only-begotten Son
to the death of the cross,
and by his glorious resurrection
have delivered us from the power of our enemy:
grant us so to die daily to sin,
that we may evermore live with him in the joy of his risen life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Additional Collect:
God of glory,
by the raising of your Son
you have broken the chains of death and hell:
fill your Church with faith and hope;
for a new day has dawned
and the way to life stands open
in our Saviour Jesus Christ.
Yesterday’s Reflection
Continued Tomorrow
The Light of Easter … the Easter light rushes through the Church of the Four Martyrs in Rethymnon in Crete on Easter night, 19 and 20 April 2025 (Patrick Comerford)
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicised Edition copyright © 1989, 1995 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. http://nrsvbibles.org
No comments:
Post a Comment