In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The first reading that we heard today so beautifully continues the theme of the Christmas season in which we recognize the divinity of Christ, true God and true man, that Jesus Christ is the Son of the Father, and that the only way to the Father is through Jesus, that Christ leads us to the Father and to union with Him.
The reading also reminds us that we have been anointed, that the anointing that you receive from Him remains in you. That anointing, of course, is the Holy Spirit that we receive from baptism, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And that indwelling of the Holy Spirit is to be our light and our guide, especially as we begin this new year to walk with Christ with renewed faith, with renewed zeal, with renewed dedication, and that we must be attentive and listen to the Spirit as He guides us.
And the third point from this beautiful reading is that we must remain in Him, that we must always seek to keep ourselves united to Christ, close to Christ, and to walk faithfully with Christ, remain in Him. And we do this, of course, as well through our prayer life, our sacramental life, and especially when we receive Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, in the Eucharist.
And today, of course, is the first Friday for the new year, for the month of January. We remember the beautiful devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, that those who receive Holy Communion for nine consecutive first Fridays, our Lord promised that they would not die without the last sacraments, they would not die in His disgrace, and that His Sacred Heart would be our refuge in our last moments.
Today, we honor also in the liturgy St. Basil and St. Gregory, these two bishops. St. Basil was Bishop of Cappadocia; St. Gregory the Patriarch of Constantinople. They were close friends in their walk with Christ, supporting and encouraging and inspiring each other in their love and devotion and faith in Christ Jesus. St. Basil was especially instrumental in fighting against Arianism, and St. Gregory was especially learned in Scripture. They died about 10 years apart. St. Basil died in, I think, 378, and Gregory died about 10 years later.
And we can ask these two saints, as we begin the new year, to help us to walk faithfully with Christ as we begin this new year with renewed love, devotion, and fidelity, that we may see the Christ Child, the true Son of God, as the source of all grace and blessings from God, and that we want to keep ourselves ever more faithfully united to Him as we begin this new year.
In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.