Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church
“Beloved: Who is the liar?” Waking up to these words the day after New Years can catch one off guard. This can be a good thing! Many of us have spent time these last few weeks taking stock of our lives and planning for how we will make effective changes in the new year. The brevity and punch of this scripture may wake us up to where our spiritual life, our relationship with God, needs attention.
The reading from 1 John is meant to make clear to the Christian community that, regardless of what is spread by false teachers, they already know the truth of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. “…his anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not false; just as it taught you, remain in him.”
It is this living ‘in the Spirit’ that leads us to follow the Truth and remain receptive to our ongoing conversion by the Spirit throughout our lives. The personal testimony of John the Baptist in today’s Gospel points to just such a life lived open to the Spirit of God in a radical way. Our own lives, as well, are meant to testify to Jesus Christ in a unique and radical way.
More important than any plans we make for the coming year is whether we have included God in the process. If we include God in our lives daily, it is much more likely the Spirit of God will hold sway, always revealing the absolute truth of what it is that God desires to change in us. And the change God desires of us will be accomplished by the Spirit. All we are asked to do is ‘remain in him’. This day, let us ask for the grace of openness to God’s desire for our lives in the coming year. May we also beg for the grace not to resist the process of the work of the Spirit. And may Mary, Mother of the Word Made Flesh, intercede for us always. Amen.
-- Gail Lyman