Εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ τοῦ Υἱοῦ καὶ τοῦ Ἁγίου Πνεύματος.

Θυμόμαστε σήμερα τὶς Μυροφόρες, τὸν Ἰωσήφ καὶ τὸν Νικόδημο, ἀνθρώπους ποὺ στὴν πορεία τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου μόλις καὶ ἀναφέρονται, ὅμως, ὅταν ὁ Χριστὸς εἶχε φαινομενικὰ ἡττηθεῖ, ὅταν ὁ θάνατος, ἡ ἀπόρριψη, ἡ προδοσία καὶ τὸ μῖσος εἶχαν ὑπερισχύσει, ἀπέδειξαν ὅτι εἶναι ἄνθρωποι μὲ πίστη καὶ κουράγιο, μὲ τὴν πίστη τῆς καρδιᾶς καὶ τὸ κουράγιο ποὺ μόνο ἡ ἀγάπη μπορεῖ νὰ γεννήσει. Τὴν ὥρα τῆς Σταύρωσης οἱ Ἀπόστολοι εἶχαν σκορπίσει, ἐκτὸς ἀπὸ τὸν Ἰωάννη ποὺ στὰθηκε δίπλα στὸν Σταυρὸ μὲ τὴν Μητέρα τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ὅλοι εἶχαν ἐγκαταλείψει τὸν Χριστό, μόνο μιὰ μικρὴ ὁμάδα γυναικῶν στάθηκε σὲ μικρὴ ἀπόσταση ἀπὸ τὸ Σταυρό, καὶ ὅταν ὁ Κύριος πέθανε, ἦλθαν νὰ μυρώσουν τὸ σῶμα Του ποὺ ὁ Ἰωσήφ ὁ ὁ ἀπὸ Ἀριμαθαίας εἶχε ζητήσει ἀπὸ τὸν Πιλᾶτο, δίχως νὰ φοβηθεῖ ὅτι θὰ τὸν ἀναγνωρίσουν ὡς μαθητὴ Του, ἐπειδὴ στὴ ζωή καὶ στὸ θάνατο, ἡ ἀγάπη καὶ ἡ πίστη εἶχαν νικήσει.

Ἄς προβληματιστοῦμε πάνω σ’αὐτό. Εἶναι εὔκολο νὰ εἴμαστε μαθητές τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὅταν ὅλα πηγαίνουν καλά, στὴν ἀσφάλεια τῆς πατρίδας ὅπου δὲν ὑπομένουμε κάποια δίωξη, ἀπόρριψη, καμία προδοσία δὲν μπορεῖ νὰ μᾶς ὁδηγήσει στὸ μαρτύριο, ἤ ἁπλῶς νὰ γίνουμε θύματα χλευασμοῦ καὶ ἀπόρριψης.

Ἄς σκεφτοῦμε τὸν ἑαυτό μας, ὄχι σέ σχέση μὲ τὸν Χριστό, ἀλλὰ τὶς μεταξύ μας σχέσεις, ἐπειδὴ Ἐκεῖνος εἶπε ὅτι ὅ,τι κάνουμε στὸν ὁποιδήποτε ἀπὸ ἐμᾶς, στὸν πιὸ μικρὸ κι ἀσήμαντο, τὸ κάνουμε σ’ Ἐκεῖνον.

Ἄς ἀναρωτηθοῦμε πῶς συμπεριφερόμαστε ὅταν κάποιος ἀπορρίπτεται, χλευάζεται, ἐξοστρακίζεται, καταδικάζεται ἀπὸ τὴν κοινὴ γνώμη ἤ ἀπὸ τὴ γνώμη ἐκείνων ποὺ γιὰ ἐμᾶς σημαίνουν κάτι, ἄν ἐκείνη τὴ στιγμή ἡ καρδιά μας παραμένει πιστή, ἤ βρίσκουμε τὸ θάρρος νὰ ποῦμε, «Ἦταν καὶ παραμένει φίλος μου, εἴτε τὸν ἀποδέχεστε, εἴτε τὸν ἀπορρίπτετε». Δὲν ὑπάρχει πιὸ μεγάλο μέτρο πίστης, ἀπὸ τὴν πίστη ποὺ ἐκδηλώνεται μέσα ἀπὸ τὴν ἥττα. Ἄς τὸ λάβουμε αὐτὸ ὑπόψιν, διότι χάνουμε μὲ τόσους τρόπους. Προσπαθοῦμε, μὲ ὅποια δύναμη ἔχουμε – λίγη ἤ πολλή, νὰ εἴμαστε αὐτὸ ποὺ πρέπει νὰ εἴμαστε, καὶ κάθε λεπτὸ χάνουμε. Δὲν θὰ ἔπρεπε νὰ κοιτάζουμε ὁ ἕνας τὸν ἄλλον, ὄχι μόνο μὲ συμπόνοια, ἀλλὰ μὲ τὴν πίστη ποὺ ἔχουν οἱ φίλοι ποὺ εἶναι ἔτοιμοι νὰ σταθοῦν δίπλα σ’ ἕναν ἄνθρωπο ποὺ πέφτει, μακρυὰ ἀπὸ τὴ χάρη, μακρυὰ ἀπὸ ἰδανικά, ποὺ ματαιώνει κάθε ἐλπίδα καὶ προσδοκία ποὺ ἔχουμε ἐπενδύσει. Ἐκείνη τὴν ὥρα ἄς σταθοῦμε δίπλα του, ἄς δείξουμε πίστη καὶ ἄς ἀποδείξουμε ὅτι ἡ ἀγάπη μας δὲν ἐξαρτιόταν ἀπὸ τὴν ἐλπίδα τῆς νίκης, ἀλλὰ ἦταν ἕνα δῶρο ὑπέροχο, γεμάτο χαρά, ποὺ προσφέρθηκε δωρεάν, ἀπὸ τὴν ψυχή μας. Ἀμήν.

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Πρωτότυπο Κείμενο

In the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.

We remember today the Myrrh-bearing women, Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus, people who in the course of the Gospel are hardly mentioned, yet who, when Christ was seemingly defeated, when death, rejection, betrayal and hatred had conquered, proved to be people of faithfulness and courage, the faithfulness of the heart and the courage that can be born only of love. At the moment of the Crucifixion all the Apostles had fled save one, John, who stood at the foot of the Cross with the Mother of God. Everyone else had abandoned Christ, only a small group of women stood at a short distance from the Cross, and when He had died, they came to anoint His Body which Joseph of Arimathea had sought from Pilate, unafraid of being recognised as a disciple, because in life and in death love and faithfulness had conquered.

Let us reflect on this. It is easy to be Christ\’s disciples when we are on the crest of the wave, in the security of countries where no persecution, no rejection is endured, no betrayal can lead us to martyrdom, or simply to becoming the victims of mockery and rejection.

Let us think of ourselves not in regard to Christ alone but with regard to one another, because Christ has said that what we have done to any one of us, to the smallest, to the most insignificant, we have done to Him.

Let us ask ourselves how we behave when someone is rejected, mocked, ostracised, condemned by public opinion or by the opinion of those who mean something to us, whether at that moment our heart remains faithful, whether at that moment we find courage to say, ‘He was, and he remains my friend whether you accept or reject him’. There is no greater measure of faithfulness than that faithfulness which is made manifest in defeat. Let us consider this, because we all are defeated, we are defeated in so many ways. We all strive, with whatever energy we have – a little or much, to be what we should be, and we are defeated at every moment. Should we not look at one another not only with compassion, but with the faithfulness of friends who are prepared to stand by a person who falls, falls away from grace, falls away from his own ideal, frustrates all hopes and expectations which we have set on him or her. At that time let us stand by, at that time let us be faithful and prove that our love was not conditioned by the hope of victory but was a wholehearted gift, gratuitous, joyful, wonderful. Amen.