Truth and Fake News

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today, the Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church, offer an opportunity to reflect on how truth and heresy have impacted the journey of the Church.

Our Santa Claus is Saint Basil the Great, a man whose life was dedicated to the care of the poor and underprivileged. He is considered a saint by the traditions of both Eastern and Western Christianity.https://t.co/JGi5IzH84T

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In the First Letter of John, the author warns against believing those who denied that the earthly Jesus was the Christ. The role of John the Baptist, described in the Gospel of John, uses altered punctuation and reinterpretation of the Hebrew text of Isaiah 40:3. Jan Schnack comments that deceit is part of human nature. The deceit of the day for Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen was refuting the teaching of Arius concerning the controversy over the divinity of Jesus. The Franciscan Media website describes the struggles of Saint Basil the Great in expounded the truth to the whole earth. The Catholic Faith and Reason website describes Arianism as far more pervasive and destructive than anything ever to challenge the Church in the time of St. Basil the Great. Don Schwager quotes Gregory the Great (540-604 AD) who preached how John the Baptist points to the Redeemer in a time of resurgence of the Donatist heresy in Africa as described on the Catholic Faith and Reason website. Friar Jude Winkler identifies the Docetists who believed God is spiritual and did not accept Incarnation nor Jesus death on the Cross. The author of the Letter is very dualistic and says If we don’t believe we are not anointed by the Spirit. An example of the several levels of meaning in Gospel of John is given by the untying of the sandal that John the Baptist was not worthy to do. The review of Ancient Christian Heresies by Robert Longman helps our understanding of the difficult search for truth in Church history. The challenge of heresy has been with the Church since the first missionary trips of the first Century. In study, we become aware of the social, cultural, political, and economic forces that have shaped and continue to impact the presentation of truth. The theme of our incarnation of the Divine Image  and Beginning Again is the initial reflection of Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, for 2018. He expands the thoughts on Image and Likeness by asking How Can Everything Be Sacred?