Friday, September 3, 2004
Nektarios of Pentapolis, the Wonderworker
Kellia: Jeremiah 2:1-13 Epistle: Galatians 2:6-1 Gospel: St. Mark 5:23-24, 35-6:1
Jeremiah 2:1-13, especially vss. 1, 2: "The word
of the Lord came to me, saying, 'Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem, Thus says the
Lord, I remember the devotion of your youth, your love as a bride, how you followed Me in the
wilderness, in a land not sown.'" The role of a Prophet of God in ancient Israel continues in the
Church today through the preaching ministry of all Bishops and most Priests. The visual
reminder of the preaching ministry appears in the priestly vestment called the "epigonation,"
which is an oblong piece that Bishops and many Priests wear suspended on the right hip. It
symbolizes the "sword of the Spirit" which St. Paul defines as "the word of God" (Eph. 6:17).
Unquestionably, the word of God, when proclaimed faithfully by His ministers, is "living and
powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit,
and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).
For this reason, as the Priest puts on the epigonation, a vesting prayer is said reminding him that
he is clothed by the Lord with a most urgent seriousness to carry out the proclamation of God's
word. Like the Prophet of old he is to "go forth, and prosper, and reign, because of truth, and
meekness, and righteousness" (Ps. 44:3 LXX).
Today's reading reveals how Jeremiah received and understood the preaching ministry with
which God invested him. His task came directly from the Lord in a command ordering him to
"Go and proclaim" (Jer. 2:2). Similarly, the word of the Lord impels His clergy with urgency,
seriousness, and full authority to proclaim the message which God sends them to declare. In the
Church, the divine command to "go and proclaim" is described as "apostolic," a word that
derives from the verb "to send." Every preacher who rightly understands the word of God
accepts the fact that he is sent to deliver God's message "in the hearing" of God's People (vs. 1).
To best understand Hebrew prophecy, one should note how the Prophet "disappears" in the
process of delivering the Lord's message. Observe Jeremiah: he begins by saying, "The word of
the Lord came to me" (vs. 1), but, thereafter, only a hint of his presence flickers here and there,
and only in incidental phrases such as, "Thus says the Lord" (vss. 2,5) or simply "says the Lord"
(vs. 12). Otherwise, the Speaker is the Lord Himself. In this lies the authentic mark of all true,
apostolic preaching: the hearer barely notices the preacher, but clearly hears God speaking.
Even the relationship between the Prophet and those who hear is determined by God. It is He
Who sends Jeremiah to proclaim "in the hearing of Jerusalem" (vs. 1). The reference to the
capital city has a double sense, as the principal place where the message is to be delivered, but
also as a shorthand way of speaking of the entire People. This latter usage of "Jerusalem" is
especially evident when the Prophet says, "Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all
the families of the house of Israel" (vs. 4). This exclamation of God's call to listen becomes the
opening of an extended section in the reading within which the Lord indicts His People.
The Lord reviews all that He has done for His People (vss. 6-8). He especially emphasizes their
ingratitude and short-lived memories (vss. 5,6) and also their outright "transgressions" through
blatant idolatry. They even dare to prophesy through false gods and by going "after things that do
not profit" (vs. 8). Hence, the Lord warns them, "I still contend with you...and with your
children's children" (vs. 9) on two counts: for abandoning Him, "the fountain of living waters"
and for hewing out "broken cisterns that can hold no water" (vs. 13).
Illumine our hearts, O Master Who lovest mankind, with the pure light of Thy divine knowledge,
and open the eyes of our mind to the understanding of Thy gospel teachings.