FAITH IN THE SON CONFERS IMMORTALITY

SAINTS BASIL THE GREAT AND GREGORY NAZIANSEN

1 Jn 2:22-28; Ps 98:1-4; Jn 1:19-28

Believing in the divinity of the Eternal Word

These days following the Octave of Christmas celebration, the Church arranges readings meant to lead us deeper into the understanding of the divinity of Jesus Christ. A great controversy led to the clear definition of the divinity of the Son of Man. The difficulty and struggles were expected, for what we celebrate are mysteries; they are divine truths beyond the human mind to comprehend, which God revealed. The divinity of the child born by Mary was one of the mysteries that caused serious controversies in the early Church. The reminiscence of these controversies is present in John’s first letter. “The man who denies that Jesus is the Christ—he is the liar; and he is denying the Father as well as the Son, because no one who has the Father can deny the Son, and to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father as well.” Saint John loaded theological truths in this simple statement. The name Jesus was given from heaven as revealed by the angel Gabriel to Mary. It is the name given to him who came from God to save his people from sin and the tyranny of evil. Hence, that he is the Messiah was well known to Mary, Joseph, and all others to whom God revealed him through angels, spiritual experience or encounter, or by the gift of faith in the Son of Man.

Whoever recognises the Son in the man Jesus is taught by God. The knowledge is not had by accident or human nature. Saint John expresses this in his writing. “Keep alive in yourselves what you were taught in the beginning: as long as what you were taught in the beginning is alive in you, you will live in the Son and in the Father; and what is promised to you by his own promise is eternal life.” The very knowledge of the divinity of Jesus confers immortality, for knowledge of the mystery is only given by God through the Holy Spirit. It is an invitation to participate in the life of the Trinity. Hence, Jesus openly said that no one can come to him unless drawn by the Father. God is not hoarding the knowledge of his Son, which is the saving mystery, for he desires the salvation of all, but we cannot receive it without desiring and humbly praying for the salvation it confers. To conceive or understand human salvation by any other means, by personal or collective effort, is to be deceived by the devil and his workmen. John the Baptist's testimony showed him to be from God, for he humbly claimed his rightful place and recognised that salvation is conferred only by the Word who became flesh and lived among us. “‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied: a voice that cries in the wilderness: Make a straight way for the Lord.’… ‘I baptise with water; but there stands among you—unknown to you—the one who is coming after me; and I am not fit to undo his sandal-strap.’” He recognised the One standing among them, who will baptise them with the Holy Spirit.

According to Saint John, the anointing we receive by believing in his divinity leads us deeper into the mystery of Jesus Christ. “This is all that I am writing to you about the people who are trying to lead you astray. But you have not lost the anointing that he gave you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.” The anointing characterises his Bride, the Church that enables the Fathers of the Church to enunciate these divine truths. Saints Basil and Gregory were among the early Fathers of the Church who brought clarity to our understanding of these mysteries through their anointing and the lucidity of their writings. Basil was born in 330, at Caesarea in Cappadocia, of a Christian family. He was a brilliant scholar and virtuous hermit, made bishop of Caesarea in 370, and died in 379. Gregory was also born in 330 near Nazianzus, was a scholar, a virtuous hermit with Basil, made bishop of Constantinople in 381, which he abandoned due to factions within the Church, and retired to Nazianzus, where he died in 390. The two friends are doctors of the Church and fought well against the Arian heresy that denied the divinity of Jesus Christ. May their prayers help us to be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ.

Let us pray: O God, who were pleased to give light to your Church by the example and teaching of the Bishops Saints Basil and Gregory, grant, we pray, that in humility we may learn your truth and practise it faithfully in charity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.