For 2 January 2025, Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church, based on 1 John 2:24–28
Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.
I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.
———–
One of the living room walls in my Dominican community features an Orthodox icon of the Three Holy Hierarchs: Saints Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom. All were fourth-century bishops in Cappadocia, present-day Turkey. All defended the doctrine of the divinity of Christ against its deniers. All are doctors of the Western church. Gregory is also known as Gregory the Theologian and John as the Golden-Tongued preacher.
Today, we celebrate the joint Memorial of Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen. Both were born in 329. They studied for a time together, and in lifelong service to a tumultuous church, they abided in one another as best friends through thick and thin.
In a sermon, Gregory of Nazianzus once said of his friendship with Basil: “Basil and I were both in Athens. We had come, like streams of a river, from the same source in our native land, had separated from each other in pursuit of learning, and were now united again as if by plan, for God so arranged it. . . . We seemed to be two bodies with a single spirit. Though we cannot believe those who claim that everything is contained in everything, yet you must believe that in our case each of us was in the other and with the other.”
This friendship between Gregory and Basil is an icon of the friendship of the Father and the Son in the Holy Trinity, a friendship in which we are meant to share. As today’s Christmas season passage from chapter 2 of the 1st Letter of John tells us: “Abide in the Son and the Father. . . . Abide in him.”
Chapter 1 of the 1st Letter of John declares: “We declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:3–4 NRSV).
As Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil’s friend, once prayed:
In you, the One,
all things abide,
and all things endlessly run to you
who are the end of all.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Gregory Heille, O.P.
Gregory Heille, O.P., serves as Professor of Preaching and Evangelization and director of the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a friar of the Province of St. Albert the Great USA and has a particular interest in racial equity education.
2 Jan 2025
1 CommentAbide in God
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Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is what he has promised us, eternal life.
I write these things to you concerning those who would deceive you. As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not be put to shame before him at his coming.
———–
One of the living room walls in my Dominican community features an Orthodox icon of the Three Holy Hierarchs: Saints Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, and John Chrysostom. All were fourth-century bishops in Cappadocia, present-day Turkey. All defended the doctrine of the divinity of Christ against its deniers. All are doctors of the Western church. Gregory is also known as Gregory the Theologian and John as the Golden-Tongued preacher.
Today, we celebrate the joint Memorial of Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen. Both were born in 329. They studied for a time together, and in lifelong service to a tumultuous church, they abided in one another as best friends through thick and thin.
In a sermon, Gregory of Nazianzus once said of his friendship with Basil: “Basil and I were both in Athens. We had come, like streams of a river, from the same source in our native land, had separated from each other in pursuit of learning, and were now united again as if by plan, for God so arranged it. . . . We seemed to be two bodies with a single spirit. Though we cannot believe those who claim that everything is contained in everything, yet you must believe that in our case each of us was in the other and with the other.”
This friendship between Gregory and Basil is an icon of the friendship of the Father and the Son in the Holy Trinity, a friendship in which we are meant to share. As today’s Christmas season passage from chapter 2 of the 1st Letter of John tells us: “Abide in the Son and the Father. . . . Abide in him.”
Chapter 1 of the 1st Letter of John declares: “We declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:3–4 NRSV).
As Gregory of Nazianzus, Basil’s friend, once prayed:
In you, the One,
all things abide,
and all things endlessly run to you
who are the end of all.
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Gregory Heille, O.P.
Gregory Heille, O.P., serves as Professor of Preaching and Evangelization and director of the Doctor of Ministry in Preaching at Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a friar of the Province of St. Albert the Great USA and has a particular interest in racial equity education.