HOMILY FOR THE 2ND OF JANUARY

Homily for the 2nd of January 

Memorial of Sts. Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen (Bishops and Doctors of the Church). 1 John 2:22-28; John 1:19-28.

St. John in the First Reading tells us what it takes to be the antichrist different from the idea of the antichrist we are used to. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is the antichrist. We are not meant to look for an antichrist out there. We are created for God and any aspect of our ĺives that has not been illumined by the light of Christ is the antichrist. Since it is the source of sin and deception in our lives and our world.

One of the things an antichrist will do is to claim to be the Christ so as to deceive people. John the Baptist in today's Gospel could have told the Jews that he is the Christ. But he said to them, "I am not the Christ" (John 1:20). He went further to tell them how insignificant he is before Christ, saying, "I baptise with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know, even he who comes after me, thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie" (John 1:27-28). This is the height of the humility of John the Baptist. Just like John the Baptist, knowing the person of Jesus enables us to know ourselves better.

We celebrate the memorial of Sts. Basil and Gregory Nazianzen who were friends outstanding in holiness of life.

In early times, the identity of Jesus was misconstrued by heretics called Arianists. To preserve the true faith, these two great saints corrected these errors by their writings. Through the intercession of Sts. Basil and Gregory, may God grant us the grace to allow our knowledge of Jesus to direct our way of living through Christ our Lord. Amen.