Myrrh Bearers
“But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, taking the spices that they had prepared.”—Luke 24:1.
I remember preparing to present a workshop at the International Community of Hope conference one summer in Texas. Community of Hope began out of a need to train those not ordained to be hospital chaplains at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston. The training program is now used worldwide for people interested in visiting the sick and homebound. I have been involved in the Community of Hope in our diocese for more than twenty years. I continue to see it as outstanding preparation and study for anyone called to a ministry involving pastoral care in any form. (Some may believe this may be for all ministries!) One of the hallmarks of the training is that it is steeped in Benedictine spirituality.
The image of the Community of Hope Chaplains that keeps coming to me is the “myrrh bearers,” the women who brought spices to the tomb of Jesus on that early Easter morning. They brought their most precious resources to honor the one who had cared for them. My experience is that this has been the story for many called to the ministry of pastoral care.
They know what it is like to be wounded, and they have been ministered to by other healers. They understand what it is like to be loved and cared for by others. Their only way of sharing, continuing, and keeping that love is to carry what they have learned to someone else.
What happens with the myrrh bearers’ visit is something totally unexpected. They go to honor their friend and teacher, and instead they are promised a new life, a resurrection in this life and the next.
I have never experienced a visit at which I did not receive resurrection. We are touched and healed by those we visit. We take our most precious possessions, ourselves, our time, our presence, and make an offering. In return, we always meet the resurrected Christ in so many forms.
Our visits were over Facebook, Zoom, and individual phone calls during this pandemic. In addition, our Daughters of the King, vestry, and clergy called everyone in our parish twice.
We also offered at St. Mark’s last year Community of Hope training on Zoom for those interested in using pastoral care in whatever was their ministry. We had 33 graduates from all over our diocese now using what they learned in 28 different ministries. We still meet once a month to continue our studies and support each other.
Joanna. Joannaseibert.com