OXYGEN

02 Jan- Weekday before Epiphany; Sts Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, bishops, doctors

Basil the Great (329-379) was a noble by birth. His parents and four of his nine siblings were canonized, including St. Gregory of Nyssa. He was the grandson of St. Marcina the Elder. As a youth, he was noted for organizing famine relief, and for working in the kitchens himself, quite unusual for a young noble.

He studied in Constantinople and Athens with his friend St. Gregory Nazianzen. He ran a school of oratory and law in Caesarea. He was so successful and sought after as a speaker that he was tempted by pride. Fearful that it would overtake his piety, he sold all that he had, gave away the money, and became a priest and monk.

He founded monasteries and dew up rules for monks living in the desert. He is considered as key to the founding of eastern monasticism as Benedict was to the west. He was the bishop and archbishop of Caesarea. He conducted Mass and preached to the crowds twice daily. He fought Arianism, is a Greek Doctor of the Church, and a Father of the Church.

Gregory of Nazianzen (330-390) was the son of St. Gregory of Nazianzen the Elder and St. Nonna, brother of St. Caesar Nazianzen, and St. Gorgonius. He spent an itinerant youth in search of learning. He was a friend and fellow student with St. Basil the Great, and a monk at Basil’s desert monastery.

He was a reluctant priest, feeling himself unworthy, and fearing that the responsibility would test his faith. He assisted his bishop father to prevent an Arian schism in the diocese. He opposed Arianiam and brought its heretical followers back to the fold. He became Bishop of Caesarea in 370 which put him in conflict with the Arian emperor Valens. the disputes led his friend Basil the Great, then archbishop, to reassign him to a small, out of the way posting at the edge of the archbishopric.

Following the death of Valens, he was appointed Bishop of Constantinople from 381-390. He hated the city, despised the violence and slander involved in these disputes, and feared being drawn into politics and corruption. But he worked to bring the Arians back to the faith. For his trouble, he was slandered, insulted, beaten up, and a rival “bishop” tried to take over his diocese.

He was a noted preacher on the Trinity. When it seemed that the faith had been restored in the city, Gregory retired to live the rest of his days as a hermit. He wrote theological discourses and poetry, some of it religious, some of it autobiographical. He was a Father of the Church, and a Doctor of the Church.

- Patron Saint Index

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1 John 2:22-28

The man who denies that Jesus is the Christ –
he is the liar,
he is Antichrist;
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.
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.
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 he gave teaches you everything;
you are anointed with truth, not with a lie,
and as it has taught you, so you must stay in him.
Live in Christ, then, my children,
so that if he appears, we may have full confidence,
and not turn from him in shame
at his coming.

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John 1:19-28

This is how John appeared as a witness. When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ he not only declared, but he declared quite openly, ‘I am not the Christ.’ ‘Well then,’ they asked ‘are you Elijah?’ ‘I am not’ he said. ‘Are you the Prophet?’ He answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We must take back an answer to those who sent us. What have you to say about yourself?’ So John said, ‘I am, as Isaiah prophesied:
a voice that cries in the wilderness:
Make a straight way for the Lord.’

Now these men had been sent by the Pharisees, and they put this further question to him, ‘Why are you baptising if you are not the Christ, and not Elijah, and not the prophet?’ John replied, ‘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.’ This happened at Bethany, on the far side of the Jordan, where John was baptising.

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I am not the Christ.

I went through a very stressful time academically two months ago. When I was writing up my thesis and assignments, I was paralyzed with fear that my results would not turn out well. How much I wanted to control the outcome of my results and ensure that I would get good grades! Of course, I knew that I could not. The reality of what I could not do was not easy to accept; however, it was a very good lesson which taught me about what I could do (e.g.. write as well as I could), and what I could not do (e.g. ensure good grades). It was also a very humbling time for me as I learnt to rely on God and to let God be God.

In today’s Gospel, John the Baptist reminds the people that he is the messenger, and not the Messiah. He is very aware of his role – what he can do (i.e. baptize with water) as well as what is reserved only for God (i.e. baptize with the Holy Spirit). As such, when confronted, John speaks with confidence and humility. He is not afraid or ashamed to say what he is unable to do, and is clear on what he can do.

My dear friends, let us learn from John’s humility and dare to admit to others and, more so, to ourselves the things that we can do and the things that we are unable to do. Let us not be afraid to acknowledge our human limitations for this will bring us peace and enable us to place our trust and hope in God.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Jean Cheng)
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Prayer: Holy Spirit, make me aware of the gifts that I have as well as the gifts that I do not have, so that I will be able to invest my time and energy wisely.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks to John the Baptist for his example of humility and faith.

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Upcoming Readings:
Sat, 03 Jan – 1 John 2:29-3:6; John 1:29-34; Weekday before Epiphany; Holy Name of Jesus
Sun, 04 Jan – Isaiah 60:1-6, Psalm 72, Ephesians 3:2-3a. 5-6, Matthew 2:1-12, Epiphany of the the Lord