January 2 2015 - St. Basil and Gregory Nazianzen - Luminaries of Christian Faith

The liturgy refers to Saints Basil and Gregory as luminaries—they illuminate by their teaching and example what it means to lovingly profess the truth of the Gospel.

Though both men eventually became Bishops and doctors of the Church, both started out as, “men of the world”.  Basil writes about frivolously wasting time on vanities, and “one day, like a man roused from deep sleep, I turned my eyes to the marvelous light of the truth of the Gospel, and I wept many tears over my miserable life.”  Pope Francis suggested for our new years resolutions, we resolve to turn away from worldly decadences and anything that might get in the way of nurturing the spiritual life.

Both Basil and Gregory were great friends and spent themselves without reserve in faithful service to the Church and in the virtues.  And perhaps that is the true measure of authentic friendship: a good friend helps you to serve God with more of yourself, good friends help us to become saints. True friends help to bring out those qualities in you which are effective in building up the kingdom of God.
As faithful bishops, both Basil and Gregory faced the growing hostility of the Arians, and both sought to mend divisions within the Church.  It may be small comfort, but the turmoil in the Church after Vatican II is a mild storm compared to the devastation caused by the Arian heresy, a trauma the Church has never forgotten.  In the first reading, the Apostle John warns us against listening to those who teach falsely about Jesus.  We like Basil and Gregory are called in our time cling to the true faith and to teach and preach it amidst hostility.

Both were dedicated to the charitable works.  In fact, the charitable institutions Basil founded in his diocese of Ceasarea in Cappaddocia where the sick would come to receive treatment are the origin of our modern day hospitals. For this, Basil is the patron saint of hospital administrators.  Another New Year’s resolution suggested by Pope Francis is that we endeavor to take care of brothers and sisters who are weaker … the elderly, the sick, the hungry, the homeless and strangers, because we will be judged on this.

May the example and heavenly intercession o the friends, Basil and Gregory, continue to illuminate for us the path of faithful Gospel living, helping us to seek the truth, to spend ourselves in faithful service of God and our neighbor, and to care for those in need for the glory of God and salvation of souls.