An homily from St. John’s Russian Orthodox Mission Church in Winfield, PA, by Priest Paul Siewers, for the 27th Sunday after Pentecost.
(Above) Russian icon of the Holy Prophet Nahum.
(Below) Painting of the Fall of Nineveh prophesied by the Prophet Nahum, by John Martin (1829),
Dear hearts, today we commemorate the Holy Prophet Nahum among other saints. He is one of the minor prophets we have been reading in Bible Study, so-called minor because their books are smaller, not because their message is less important. Holy Nahum is thought (based on the Septuagint text used by the Orthodox Church) to have been a contemporary of Isaiah, writing in the period leading up to the Assyrian exile of the Ten Tribes of northern Israel, back in the 700s BC by Western dating. This Sunday commemorating Nahum during the Nativity Fast, our Orthodox Advent, is also appropriate, because of how the Prophets and the Old Testament all bend toward the coming of our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ in a cave in Bethlehem as a modest but glorious babe sung to by angels, adored by shepherds, and loved by his Mother the All Holy Theotokos.
The Holy Prophet Nahum also is traditionally regarded in the Orthodox Church as an intercessor for prayers for mental health. This is interesting because his short book of prophecy given to him by God is focused on the fall of the great imperial and commercial city of Nineveh, which would not happen for generations after his lifetime. In fact, first would come the conquest by Nineveh’s empire of Assyria of the northern kingdom of Israel, and their forced exile to that land. Then the fall of Nineveh would be one of the series of events leading to the return from Babylonia and a later exile of the people of Judah, the southern kingdom, after the destruction of Jerusalem and the First Temple.
Nineveh was one of the great cities of the ancient world, located in the so-called cradle of civilization in Mesopotamia or modern-day Iraq. Mere decades before, God had sent the prophet Jonah to preach in Nineveh, and the city had repented of its many sins. But then the city changed across a few generations from repentant piety to gross corruption, immorality, and idolatry. This too is a warning to us.
As an imperfect analogy to this change in Nineveh, consider how, during the 1950s, skyscrapers in New York City lit up for Good Friday and Easter with three massive lit up Crosses in their windows, in a time of public piety during the height of the Cold War against atheistic Communism. This is not to say that New York City then was necessarily pious and not a center of worldliness, and those expressing those signs were probably not Orthodox Christians although we can admire the Christian message. But today it would be very unlikely that such huge Christian displays dominating the skyline would occur in the great global city of America. Nahum’s message of the need for continual repentance for our spiritual health holds true for us today as much as in his time more than 13 centuries ago.
His name means “God consoles” or “comfort,” and this indicates why he is regarded as a saint to ask for prayers to God for our mental health. Although his message is one of God’s judgment on Nineveh, wrapped up in it is the call for repentance, and the assurance of God’s help for His faithful people of Israel, the Church. That is us, brothers and sisters, however unworthy and sinful we may feel, myself more than all. For in the Body of Christ we are in the full realization of Israel today for all nations, and sheltered by Him as we retain our spirit of humility, repentance, and an open heart to God’s grace. For in Orthodoxy we know that grace itself to be divine and it warms and heals our heart and soul, no matter what the circumstances around us, even if we face a seemingly overwhelming worldly care, such as the massive city and empire of Nineveh. God is in control and the lover of mankind in His Church. Let us shelter in this Church family, in which the Prophet Nahum is one of our relatives, in the mysteries of Confession, and the Eucharist.
To continue reflecting on the relevance of Nahum’s prophecy to our mental health, Elder Paisios of modern Greece has told us that it is worldly cares and material goods and worries that cause us great stress, as they did with the young rich man in the Gospel account today. Nahum’s prophecy shows that Nineveh, typifying such worldly cares, will fall, but the fall of that city suggests the rise of another in our hearts and in the Church, that of the New Jerusalem of God. Indeed, the meaning of the name of the town that was a base for much of Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth, Capernaum, is the village of Nahum, who lived in that area of Galilee long before.
The approach to mental health of the Holy Prophet Nahum in the Old Testament is fulfilled in Orthodox Christian teachings throughout the current Church era. For example, Saint Ephraim’s devotional writing reminds us of the mental health involved in Nahum’s prophecy by directing us to lift up our eyes to God’s city rather than man’s.
Living centuries after the Prophet Nahum but not far away, Saint Ephraim the Syrian wrote beautiful meditations and prayers that later were compiled by Saint Theophan the Recluse in Russia, and are presented to us in a little Orthodox devotional book called A Spiritual Psalter or Reflections on God. Brothers and sisters I encourage you to find this book if you have not already, A Spiritual Psalter by Saint Ephraim, as it is wonderfully healing to read a litte bit daily from it. Like all our Orthodox spiritual treasures, it comes across the ages and through the hands of different saints to us, all in the mystical unity or sobornost of the Church.
In one of his prayers, St. Ephraim writes:
“Know that the eight thoughts that lead to all evil—gluttony, lust, avarice, anger, untimely sorrow, despondency, vainglory, and pride—wage war against every person. If you wish to overcome gluttony, love temperance and fear God, and you will prevail. If you wish to overcome lust, love vigil and thirst, always think of death, avoid conversations with women [he is addressing men here]—and you will prevail. If you wish to overcome avarice, love non-acquisitiveness and frugality. If you wish to overcome anger, acquire meekness and magnanimity. Remember how much evil the Jews did to our Lord Jesus Christ, and yet, as the lover of mankind, He did not become angry with them but prayed for them, saying: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.’
“If you wish to overcome untimely sorrow, never grieve over anything temporary. If you are hurt by words, troubled, or dishonoured, do not sorrow but rather rejoice. Only grieve when you sin, but even then, keep it measured, lest you fall into despair and perish. If you wish to overcome despondency, engage in some handiwork, even briefly, or read, or pray often. If you wish to overcome vainglory, do not love praise, honours, fine clothing, or prominent places. Instead, love to be reproached and dishonoured, even falsely acused, and reproach yourself as being the worst of sinners. If you wish to overcome pride, never attribute anything you do to your own efforts or strength. Whether fasting, keeping vigil, sleeping on the ground, singing psalms, serving others, or making many prostrations, say: ‘This is done with God’s help and His protection, not by my strength or effort.’”
Then, in a following reflection, St. Ephraim adds, “Praise to Him [God] Who invisibly cultivates our spirit. Blessed is He who attuned the senses of our spirit so that it may always sing to Him on the lyre of its soul.” (Numbers 117-118; translation by Nun Christina)
Here St. Ephraim, as compiled by St. Theophan, tells of the healing nature of Orthodox Christianity for our mental and spiritual as well as physical health. God “attunes the senses of our spirit so that it may always sing to Him on the lyre of its soul.” In other words, the Lord gives us our harmony and grounding and freedom from stress, although we must be open to his cultivation of our spirit our nous, our heart. In this, to return to Nahum, we experience the New Jerusalem, and not Nineveh, in our lives. Brothers and sisters, as we joyfully anticipate the birth of God the Logos in Bethlehem, let us remember that logos, a word for Christ in Christian Scriptures, means not only the Word but also the Harmony, and let God harmonize us that we may always sing to Him.
Glory to God for all things!
***
Holy Gospel according to Luke,
§91 [18:18-27]
At that time, a certain ruler asked Him, saying, ‘Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?’ And Jesus said unto him, ‘Why callest thou Me good? None is good save One, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery.’ ‘Do not kill.’ ‘Do not steal.’ ‘Do not bear false witness.’ ‘Honour thy father and thy mother.’’ And he said, ‘All these have I kept from my youth up.’ Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, ‘Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in Heaven; and come, follow Me.’ And when he heard this he was very sorrowful, for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, He said, ‘How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the Kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God.’ And those who heard it said, ‘Who then can be saved?’ And He said, ‘The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.’