Saints Basil the Gregory and Gregory Nazianzen

Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life. (1 John 2:24-25)

The letters of Saint John are powerful reflections on the Christian life, focusing on the central mystery of our faith: God’s everlasting love revealed in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. They also touch on conflicts in the early church as it engages the world around it and encounters new modes of theological and philosophical thought.

In today’s passage from First John, the issue is the influence of a persistent heresy, Gnosticism, on the purity of the faith. The Gnostics denied that the human Jesus was the Christ. To deny the Son, the author of the letters asserts, is to deny the Father. It also calls to mind the scene in John 12:44-45, where Jesus tells the apostle Philip emphatically, “Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.”

Saint Basil the Great, one of the two bishops and doctors of the Church whose feast we observe today, wrote: “Our Savior was crucified for our sakes that by his death he might give us life and train and attract us all to endurance. To him, I press on, and to the Father and to the Holy Spirit. I strive to be found true. . . .”

The Lord Jesus gives us his life in the Eucharist. Thus sustained, we press on to him and to the Father and the Spirit. In your prayer this day, thank God for the nourishment of these holy gifts.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, may I be found faithful and true in knowing and professing you. Amen.

Daily Eucharistic Reflection – Center for Eucharistic Evangelizing (eucharisticevangelizing.com)
To receive the Daily Eucharistic Reflection in your email, please contact Director, CEE [cee@blessedsacrament.com]