


Reflection
1 John 2: 22-28
Psalm 98
John 1: 19-29
Merry Christmas! Yep, still Christmas Season for us Catholics. Today we celebrate the Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church. Both Saints lived in the 4th century. St. Basil wrote rules for monks and invigorated monasteries. St. Gregory presided at the Council of Constantinople in 381AD, defending the Church against Arian heresies that claimed Jesus was created by God and playing an integral rule in the development of the Nicene Creed we use at weekend Masses.
The lives of these great Saints are not far from the life of John the Baptist as described in today’s gospel. By that I mean they pointed people to the truth that is Jesus. And we see in today’s gospel why it was important to include the story of the birth of John the Baptist and his father Zachariah who lost his ability to speak until John was born and named as God directed.
When John was born the people wondered how great a person he would become, so we see in today’s gospel the fulfillment of the prophesy of Isaiah: “I am the voice of one crying out in the desert, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as Isaiah the prophet said.”
In the realm of the Mission of Christ, we are called to bring others to Jesus – being bold, but not reckless. Where we see injustice, we are called to correct it. Where we see people falling away from the Church, we are called to bring them back. When people speak things of the Church that are simply wrong or out and out lies, we are called to fraternally correct them. Know anyone who has wandered from the teachings of the Church? First pray for them and then reach out to them in a loving way.
Merry Christmas! Go smile at God today!