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Holy Week is a time of both extremes – from the wrenching loss of Good Friday to the triumphant exultation of Easter Sunday. The women named in the Gospels give us an image of life that is traveled in community. The women at the tomb face deep sorrow and astonishing joy in quick succession; they bear witness to it all together.

As we move through the events of Jesus’ death and resurrection each year, we, too are called into community together. Holy Week calls us into community as women, in particular. Women were the first witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection, the first to share this astonishing news of life and hope with the world.

Holy Week calls us to many things. One of them is knowing that we are not alone. We do have a community to walk with, that walks with us, whether that community lives where we do, whether members of that community live on earth or in heaven. I picture my friends and family near and far. They stand at the tomb with me during Holy Week and in other times of sorrow and joy.

This message is excerpted from “Women at the tomb” by Jordan Miller-Stubbendick in the April 2020 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate John Donne, poet, 1631.