Feast of Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory of Nazianzen

Good morning. Brrrr! Old Man Winter has arrived here in Southern Indiana, we have snow flurries and the wind is blowing to beat all and the New Year has arrived as well. Let us begin this Year of 2012 by striving to live simply and through witnessing lives of grace and love. A joyous and blessed New Year to all! As we venture forth upon a new year we are provided an opportunity for renewal. As John the Baptist reminds us in the Gospel for today repentance is only the beginning of renewal. As our Saint for today, Saint Gregory Nazianzen suggests we must go beyond repentance; we are all called to be active in our faith. “He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven.” Saint Gregory is someone I can truly relate to. His and my world view tends to be quite similar. He once said, “Let us never esteem worldly prosperity or adversity as things real or of any moment….” Beginning in October of this New Year 2012, on the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, we the church will venture forth on a Year of Faith. Yet, we do not need wait until then to begin spreading the news; we can begin now by truly embracing those needed changes in our lives, both internally and externally. As we look about us in this year 2012 it is clear there is much needed change and this change must begin with ourselves. We can begin by taking a personal inventory and asking ourselves in what ways we have failed to love, and in what ways have we failed to be a light for Christ. Are there things we need to change toward making “straight the way of the Lord?” Like Saint Gregory Nazianzen, let us begin this New Year with simplicity, and let us be messengers of grace and joy in all that we do. Perhaps the best place to begin is by asking ourselves how we might better show our love to our spouse and to those we encounter each day. What other things night we do to show the light of Christ in our lives? Make a great day!

Today we recall the good lives, gifts, and works of Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory Nazianzen. “Today let us do honor to Christ’s baptism and celebrate this feast in holiness. Be cleansed entirely and continue to be cleansed. Nothing gives such pleasure to God as the conversion and salvation of men, for whom his every word and every revelation exist. He wants you to become a living force for all mankind, lights shining in the world. You are to be radiant lights as you stand beside Christ, the great light, bathed in the glory of him who is the light of heaven. You are to enjoy more and more the pure and dazzling light of the Trinity, as now you have received – though not in its fullness – a ray of its splendor, proceeding from the one God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.” ~From a sermon by Saint Gregory Nazianzen on the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord