Addressing the faithful in the Church of St. Nicholas in Kotor's Old Town, today at the Divine Liturgy on the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearers, Archpriest Nenad Kalem emphasized courage in faith and putting hope in the Lord. These are, as he said, virtues that we should emulate after the example of the Holy Myrrh-Bearers and the Holy and Righteous Joseph.
“Saint John the Evangelist says in one place in his Holy Gospel: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment, and whoever fears has not been made perfect in love.” These words of Saint John, the “Apostle of Love,” in today’s Gospel unequivocally tell us that where unfeigned love for God reigns, there can be no room for any fear. And that there is truly no fear in perfect love, we are convinced by the personal example of the Myrrh-bearing women, about whom we heard in today’s Holy Gospel and to whom this Sunday is dedicated. And who were the holy Myrrh-bearing women? These were those women who accompanied Christ on His mission from Galilee and served Him. One of them was Mary Magdalene, the sister of the four-day-old and righteous Lazarus, Mary of Josiah and Salome, the mother of the apostles James and John. Of course, among them, the Most Holy Theotokos was always present, as a model of love and service. We call them Myrrh-bearing Women, because very early, on the first day of Sunday, they carried fragrant oils to the tomb to anoint the body of Christ, but also because their souls were fragrant with the fragrance of faith and love. Their devotion, faithfulness and service to Christ is amazing. While the holy apostles fled in all directions in fear of the Jews, they still remained with Christ and accompanied him all the way to Golgotha. Then, while the people mocked the crucified Christ, they still stood humbly under the cross and suffered together with him. Thus, seemingly weak women became witnesses of the suffering and death of Christ the Lord. Because of that great sacrifice of selfless love, they were the first to have the risen Christ the Lord appear to them. And thus they were deigned to be the first to learn the greatest and New Testament truth, that is that Christ is risen and that death has been defeated and all the dilemmas surrounding the Lord's suffering and resurrection have been resolved by their testimony. It was quite logical that the Lord, after the resurrection, first appeared to his disciples, but, due to past events, they were discouraged in spirit and weakened in faith. That is why the Lord appears first to the women, the Myrrh-bearing women, and later to the holy apostles, but at the same time he rebukes them for their hardness of heart and their disbelief in those who saw Him risen from the dead. In addition to the Myrrh-bearing women, today's Holy Gospel also mentions Joseph of Arimathea, who also showed great courage and bravery. He was a member of the Jewish court, the Sanhedrin, but also a secret disciple of Christ, where he comes before Pilate with great courage to ask for the body of Christ, in order to take Him down from the cross and lay Him in the tomb. Risking his social status for the sake of Christ also overcomes all his fears, because his motive was of a spiritual nature, as it is said in the text of the Holy Gospel, “who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God, dared to ask Pilate for the body of Christ.” The kingdom of God was his driving force at that moment. The Church remembers his courage and boldness at every holy liturgy, when, after a long procession, he brings the holy gifts to the high table, the priest says the prayer “Venerable Joseph, having taken down your pure body from the tree.” And we sing that song and that troparion throughout this week, every day, so that it may strengthen us in faith and visit us with the importance of this event. Therefore, bearing all this in mind, serve the Lord with fear and rejoice in Him with trembling, as the psalmist David says, “for only serving Him frees every man and exalts him above all creation.” And the courage in "Faith and trust in the Lord are virtues that we should emulate, following the example of the Holy Myrrh-bearing Women and the Holy and Righteous Joseph. Rejoice and do not be afraid! Christ is Risen," said Father Nenad.