[Salvation]

Doctors of the Catholic Church

Saint Gregory Nazianzus is the Doctor of Theologians. His profound words are: God accepts our desires as though they were a great value. God longs ardently for us to desire and love the Supreme Being who is always our Father, Brother and Lover.

Gregory's message is for everyone, especially for justices in all courts of law: social, civil, criminal, corporate, canon. etc. He wrote about God's justice and explained it. No one can adequately explain God or divine attributes without expressing and discovering justice.

In Constantinople, St Gregory was the leader of a group that was pitifully small and poor. Moreover, persecution from the Arians was intense, putting Gregory in mortal danger. But his holiness of life, his burning eloquence and brilliant explanation of doctrine especially regarding the divinity of Christ gradually won followers and great numbers of converts. Jerome, scholarly, eloquent and renowned, came to admire and to listen to him. St. Gregory’s clear-cut exposition of truth dealt a crippling blow to Arianism. He was the stylist who could sum up the writings of St. Athanasius, St. Hilary and St. Basil. He was the accomplished orator who could make true doctrine live in the minds of his audience. For this reason he has received the title, “The Christian Demosthenes,” after the famous Greek orator – Taken from the book: The 33 Doctors of the Church by Fr. Christopher Rengers, O.F.M.Cap.

Like many other doctors, Gregory suffered slander, insults and even personal violence. He is famous for his writings and sermons on the Trinity. "The Theologian" is buried in St Peter's Cathedral where fittingly all sacred Theology should proceed and from sacred scripture, the Word of God. However, in a magnanimous gesture of goodwill, his relics were returned to the Eastern church in 2004-2005 by the late Pope John Paul II before he died in 2005.

St Gregory Nazianzus, 330-390. Doctor of Theologians. Feast Jan 2nd.

[Salvation]

The Word Among Us

Meditation: 1 John 2:22-28

“Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.” (1 John 2:24)

Sometimes it’s only when some­thing is taken away from us that we begin to see how precious it was. What, for instance, do you think would happen if every copy of the Bible were to disappear overnight? How would we teach our children about God’s love? How would we be able to understand God’s purposes in this world? Where would we turn for guidance and clarity in our lives?

Consider what St. John tells us in today’s first reading: “If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father” (1 John 2:24). John is saying that when we let the word of God—what we “heard from the beginning”—soak into us, we “remain” in the Son and the Father. We actually find our life in the very life of the Trinity! Our minds, our hearts, and our actions change to reflect Jesus and his ways.

Shortly after he became pope, Blessed John Paul II visited Poland, which was still under Communist rule. On the last day of his visit, dur­ing an outdoor Mass attended by approximately two million people, the pope extended his hands over everyone there and quoted Scripture: ”Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). He went on: “I speak, too, from St. Paul: Do not quench the Spirit. I speak again from St. Paul: Do not grieve the Spirit. You must be strong, my brothers and sisters! You must be strong with the strength that faith gives you (1 Corinthians 16:13)… . Do not be defeated. Do not be discouraged (Joshua 1:9). Never detach yourselves from him (Romans 8:35).”

These words—all taken from Scripture—imparted a measure of hope and strength to the Polish people that far surpassed anyone’s expectations. As a result, a move­ment was born that ultimately led to the defeat of Communism, not just in Poland but throughout the Soviet Union.

There is no telling what can hap­pen when we immerse ourselves in the word of God. All it takes is a few minutes a day of reading and medi­tating on a passage in Scripture. The Holy Spirit will bring these words to life, and our hearts will be changed!

“Father, teach me to remain in your word so that I can bear great fruit for your kingdom.”

Psalm 98:1-4; John 1:19-28