As we turn our attention to the New Year, the church directs our gaze once again to the grace being active in the human heart, mind and soul as we venerate these two saints and doctors of the Church.
They stood fast to what was orthodox, that is, right teaching in regards to the faith and believe in the identity of Christ.
Basil and Gregory found themselves in the mix of contention as the early church struggled with Arianism, the teaching that Jesus was not one with the Father, that he was a creature, just a notch above the angels.
Basil and Gregory fought for the truth and they refused to tolerate false teachings in regards to the essential identity of Jesus, the one begotten from Father from all ages, eternal and truly divine.
It is because of Arianism we have the word "consubstantial" in our creed even today. We profess Jesus to be the same not similar to the Father, begotten not made, one in being with the Father.
We certainly have lost our way when it comes to taking a stand for what is true and good.
In our society we try to remain "opened" minded and thus tolerate all kinds of nonsense when it comes to opinion expressed about who God is from all eternity and who Christ is as well.
Sometimes, as Basil and Gregory teach us, that one's mind should be open only in so far as it can shut upon that which is true. We do not open our mind in order to keep it ajar but we open it in order to bite down on that which is of true substance, worthy of chewing.
Imagine walking around all day with your mouth open. We would soon discover that many un welcomed things would gather causing havoc to our health. It is the same with our mind. When we try to tolerate everything then we begin to believe in nothing.
Isn't this where we find ourselves in the current milieu.
This is where Basil and Gregory can assist us in our endeavor as we journey through the New Year.
Here is an excerpt taken from the life of Basil in his conversation with the Emperor:
"In 372 Emperor Valens sent Modestus, the prefect, to Cappadocia to introduce Arianism as the state religion. Modestus approached the holy bishop, upbraided him for his teaching, and threatened despoliation, exile, martyrdom, and death. To these words of the Byzantine despot, Basil replied with the peace of divine faith: "Is that all? Nothing of what you mentioned touches me. We possess nothing, we can be robbed of nothing. Exile will be impossible, since everywhere on God's earth I am at home. Torments cannot afflict me, for I have no body. And death is welcome, for it will bring me more quickly to God. To a great extent I am already dead; for a long time I have been hastening to the grave."
Astonished, the prefect remarked: "Till today no one has ever spoken to me so courageously." "Perhaps," rejoined Basil, "you have never before met a bishop." Modestus hastened back to Valens. "Emperor," he said, "we are bested by this leader of the Church. He is too strong for threats, too firm for words, too clever for persuasion."
These are the kind of Bishops we need today. As we honor the memories and life of Basil and Gregory, we should pray for our Bishops that they have the same kind of audacity to stand up against bullies of our current society, refusing to step down from what is true.
We should pray also for ourselves that we begin to discern what is true and good and worthy of closing our mind and heart around.
In the opening lines of today's first reading John poses a question, "who is the liar?"
Think about that for a moment. Lying presupposes the possibility of truth.
If there were no truth there could be no lying. But we know there is truth, especially in regards to the God's revelation. Not everything is acceptable, not everything is worthy of our belief.
Truth is greater than what we think or suppose or even hold to as an opinion.
There are lies and liars which means there are those who seek to speak the truth.
Where do we fit in this scheme of things? This of course begs the question, why are we Christians?
We are Christians in the first place, not because Jesus was a splendid teacher of morals in the first century Palestine or because we like his vision for ordering society. We are Christian because somehow in Christ we have been touched and even transformed by God himself.
This is what Basil and Gregory were insisting on in their fight for right teaching, orthodoxy. The one who is Consubstantial with the Father, God from God, Light from Light, as entered into our time and brought us face to face with God, truth has a face, in JEsus and through his church we know what it looks like and for this we are ever grateful. As we say in the Kyrie, "Lord JEsus, you have given us the consolation of the truth, Lord, have Mercy."
Mercy shines forth in truth! Basil and Gregory refused to forsake or take for granted the mercy of God by down playing truth. We should seek to do the same.
No comments:
Post a Comment