Saint Basil the Great & St.Gregory Nazianzen

( picture is of Saint Basil the Great )

Friends in Christ,

St. Basil the Great was born at Caesarea of Cappadocia in 330. He was one of ten children of St. Basil the Elder and St. Emmelia. Several of his brothers and sisters are honored among the saints. He attended school in Caesarea, as well as Constantinople and Athens, where he became acquainted with St. Gregory Nazianzen in 352. A little later, he opened a school of oratory in Caesarea and practiced law. Eventually he decided to become a monk and found a monastery in Pontus which he directed for five years. He wrote a famous monastic rule which has proved the most lasting of those in the East. After founding several other monasteries, he was ordained and, in 370, made bishop of Caesaria. In this post until his death in 379, he continued to be a man of vast learning and constant activity, genuine eloquence and immense charity. This earned for him the title of "Great" during his life and Doctor of the Church after his death. Basil was one of the giants of the early Church. He was responsible for the victory of Nicene orthodoxy over Arianism in the Byzantine East, and the denunciation of Arianism at the Council of Constantinople in 381-82 was in large measure due to his efforts. Basil fought simony, aided the victims of drought and famine, strove for a better clergy, insisted on a rigid clerical discipline, fearlessly denounced evil wherever he detected it, and excommunicated those involved in the widespread prostitution traffic in Cappadocia. He was learned, accomplished in statesmanship, a man of great personal holiness, and one of the great orators of Christianity. His feast day is January 2.

What an incrediable life indeed ! I noted that he was a man of great personal Holiness. If we compare our lives to the life of Saint Basil, I would think that most of us come to the conclusion that we lead ordinary lives. We have the responsibility of a job and looking after a family and in our spare time.... we.. here comes an interesting challenge: What do we do with our spare time ? Are we able to do something for others less fortunate in society than we are, or do we persue our own pleasures? Being a Catholic Christian does give us some responsibilities, i.e. we hear the Word every Sunday at Mass, but are we really doers of the Word?If we look at the life we lead at the moment, can we say in all honesty, that we are doing our utmost to lead a Holy Life ? And yet that is what God asks of each one of us. Could this be a challenge for us on the 2nd day of the year 2007 , can we focus on leading a more Christ Centred and Holy Life? Something to pray for this evening when we retire, because alone without Christ's help we cannot do it.

Thanks be to God,

Ed Bakker

P.S. Saint Basil is the Patron Saint of Hospital Administrators - may I pray especially for Annie Robarts.