Opening: Brothers and sisters,
Today we remember two bishops of the early Greek Church: St Basil the Great and St Gregory Nazianzen.
St. Basil was raised in a family of saints. His grandmother, his parents, his brothers and sisters all came to be canonized. Basil and his best friend Gregory of Nazianzen became heroes of the church in the 300’s, as they fought the Arian heresy and taught that the real God became a real man to save us.
We’re beginning a New Year.
Just recently, in our refectory book, we heard Dom André Louf say: “All these years, so little progress.”
Let us take time to admit that we also have made so little progress, and be sorry for our backslidings, as we ask God’s help for starting again this New Year. I confess, etc.
The Gospel John 1:19-28
This is the testimony of John.
When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him
to ask him, “Who are you?”
he admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,
“I am not the Christ.”
So they asked him,
“What are you then? Are you Elijah?”
And he said, “I am not.”
“Are you the Prophet?”
He answered, “No.”
So they said to him,
“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us?
What do you have to say for yourself?”
He said:
“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,
‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’
as Isaiah the prophet said.”
Some Pharisees were also sent.
They asked him,
“Why then do you baptize
if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?”
John answered them,
“I baptize with water;
but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,
the one who is coming after me,
whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.”
This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,
where John was baptizing.
After the Gospel:
It must have been frustrating for those sent to ask John “Who are you?” when he only answered who he was not:
I am not the Christ,
I am not Elijah,
I am not the prophet.
I am not worthy …
He would only admit that he was the voice of one crying out in the wilderness.
Much of John’s holiness actually rests on those words: I am not.
The interior life of each of us rests on that statement: I am not …
I am not God. I can do nothing by myself.
Without this negative statement, there can be no positive growth.
Our Lord once said to St. Catherine of Siena:
“Daughter, do you know who you are and who I am?
If you know these two things, blessedness lies within your grasp.
You are she who is not,
and I am He Who is.”
“You are … who is not.” They may not be the most flattering words God ever spoke, but they provide a solid foundation for a spiritual life.
They’re in keeping with the first Beatitude: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Until we can admit that we are not God, then we can’t admit who He is, and we can’t become what he wants us to be.