Homily Delivered at Orthodox Christian Attorney Network National Retreat
April 26, 2026
by Fr. David Khorey
Christ is Risen!
What a joy it has been to be together for this retreat. What an inspiration it has been to use this time to draw closer to Christ in a way that connects very closely with our daily lives, to realize the reality of the Kingdom drawn near, in the most unlikely place we might think, in our professional lives as lawyers, in so many aspects, yet still this one eternal dimension, ever and always present, if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.
And now together we worship. We receive the Eucharist together, we share one cup of faith, the body and blood of Our Lord so that we are truly One Body, the Body of Christ. And at the close of the liturgy, and the close of this retreat, we depart in peace, the peace of Christ he gives to His apostles, the peace from above, full of the Holy Spirit, which we are now to take into the world, for the liturgy after the liturgy, to bring Christ to the world and world to Christ, in this sacramental life of ours.
So when we leave this sacred place, to make other places sacred, what tools can we take with us to help make that so, to remember our royal priesthood, and to live it out, to be light, and salt, and leaven, to be witnesses?
One place to look is the calendar of the Church, which is always a great source of models and examples for this purpose, and today is one of the best examples we can have.
Today in the Church we remember the Myrrhbearing women, Mary Magdalen and the rest, and also Joseph of Arimathea, who we heard about in today’s Gospel and Nicodemus, often in icons depicted with Joseph of Arimathea, removing Christ’s body and preparing it for burial with myrrh and spices he purchased.
Three very different sets of people: the Myrrhbearers, the women disciples of Christ, his disciples’ mothers and aunts, his friends, sisters of his friends, quietly, in the case of Joanna, from a slightly higher stratum of society than the fishermen (Joanna the Myrrhbearer was the wife of a high ranking official, Herod’s chief steward, but still a woman, in that time and place which meant some things, as you know and as we will discuss in just a minute); Joseph, the pious Joseph, the noble Joseph, more talked about in the Orthodox tradition than Joseph the Betrothed, I think, sometimes, especially at Pascha, not only a rich man, a merchant, but also a respected member of the council, the Sanhedrin, and most importantly, as Scripture notes he was also himself looking for the kingdom of God, as we are; and finally Nicodemus, Nicodemus the Righteous, a prominent Pharisee who surreptitiously came to hear the Lord by night, in order to meet Him without being persecuted, for he too was a Jewish temple leader. Jesus tells him he must be born again, in order to enter the Kingdom. Nicodemus appears three times in the Gospel of John. The famous passage we see referenced so much, John 3:16 comes in his first meeting with Jesus, when he comes to him at night. Its Nicodemus who provides the myrrh and the spices for the women.
So you see right after the crucifixion all three play a role together, as different as they are. In fact they do have some things in common that provide a good lesson for us, as we go from here to work together to seek the Kingdom and to serve Christ and His Church.
The first thing they had in common was faith, faith in Jesus Christ so strong it endured before He had risen.
What is the source of that faith? It could only have been love, love of the Lord. That faith produced another thing they had in common, that is especially important for us, and that thing was courage. We need courage. We need to remember it comes from faith, which best comes, from love.
The Myrrhbearers, Joseph and Nicodemus needed courage because they all took a risk, that was also something they had in common. They appeared to take different risks, Joseph and Nicodemus risked their status and wealth, the myrrhbearers did not have much, though some did, it was more personal with them, but the fact is all three were willing to risk, everything. The Gospel says the myrrhbearing women were afraid, once they find out He is Risen, but that’s trembling and astonishment as it says, that’s the perfect reaction to Resurrection from the dead, this is fear of God, not fear of the Romans or the Pharisees.
And they all take that risk, in turn, out of their abundant mercy. To bury the dead is a work of mercy. This is the work they were about. So faith, love, courage, risk taking, mercy all these things are lessons and inspiration for us. But there’s one more lesson, one more inspiration to take home from today’s commemoration of these three, and this one I know we already have in common with them, as lawyers, in America, in 2026, as Orthodox Christian attorneys. That is, that all three commemorated today, were in a sense among the most surprising witnesses, to do good works, and to affirm the Resurrection.
The myrrhbearers of course are the original witnesses to the resurrection and their fidelity is unparalleled. The angel tells them go tell the disciples and Peter. Yet as lawyers we should appreciate that women were not considered competent witnesses at the time, nor would they be for centuries. Their testimony was inadmissible. Why them?
Nicodemus and Joseph have it made. Why does Joseph who is rich, nevertheless seek the kingdom? Why does Nicodemus come to see Jesus, by night?
Why of all the disciples and those who followed Jesus, do these three bear witness, as we remember today?
Brothers and sisters our Christian faith has a long history of surprising people, of witnesses who show up and do good works of mercy and affirm the Resurrection and tell the world the good news in all kinds of unexpected places from all kinds of backgrounds the world would consider unlikely, improbable, even, under the circumstances.
My guess is nobody sees us coming, either.
Faith. Love. Courage. Risk Taking. Mercy.
Let’s go surprise some people. We’re in good company. The best company there could be.
Christ is Risen!