THE MEMORIAL OF SAINTS BASIL THE GREAT AND GREGORY NAZIENZEN.

THE MEMORIAL OF STS BASIL THE GREAT AND GREGORY NAZIENZEN. BISHOPS AND DOCTORS OF THE CHURCH. 

"This is the testimony of John. 

When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him

to ask him, “Who are you?”

He admitted and did not deny it, but admitted,

“I am not the Christ.” 

So they asked him,

“What are you then? Are you Elijah?” 

And he said, “I am not.” 

“Are you the Prophet?”

He answered, “No.” 

So they said to him,

“Who are you, so we can give an answer to those who sent us? 

What do you have to say for yourself?”

He said:

“I am the voice of one crying out in the desert,

‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’

as Isaiah the prophet said.” 

Some Pharisees were also sent. 

They asked him,

“Why then do you baptize

if you are not the Christ or Elijah or the Prophet?” 

John answered them,

“I baptize with water;

but there is one among you whom you do not recognize,

the one who is coming after me,

whose sandal strap I am not worthy to untie.” 

This happened in Bethany across the Jordan,

where John was baptizing." (John 1: 19 - 28).

Thursday , January 2nd 2025 is the feast of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazienzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church. 

Who are you?

“Who are you?”..... “What are you then?.... What do you have to say for yourself?” (John 1: 19, 21, 22).

The priests, levites and Jewish leaders have been watching the ministry of St John the Baptist for a while. At long last, they decided to hear from the horse's mouth the identity of this austere prophet.  John did not beat about the bush:  “I am ‘the voice of one crying out in the desert, “Make straight the way of the Lord.”  (John 1: 23).

And you? Who are you? What is your purpose on earth? What do you do for the Kingdom of God on earth?  All these are apt questions to reflect on as we prepare to celebrate the feast of the Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ on Sunday January 12th marking the end of the Christmas Season.

We celebrate today, January 2nd, two great Bishops and Doctors of the Church: Saints Basil the Great (329 to 379)and Gregory Nazianzen (329 to 389).  Both men, great friends in this world "proclaimed Christ crucified; Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God." (Cf 1 Corinthians 1: 23 - 24).

The Church honors the Most Holy Name of Jesus in January. 

"The name of Jesus is the glory of preachers, because the shining splendor of that name causes his word to be proclaimed and heard." (St Bernardine of Siena.). 

For the Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and prayer intentions click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/12/litany-of-most-holy-name-of-jesus.html?m=1

SOLEMNITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY MOTHER OF GOD.

THE SOLEMNITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF GOD. IN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS. 

"The LORD said to Moses:  

“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them:  

This is how you shall bless the Israelites.

Say to them:  

The LORD bless you and keep you!  

The LORD let his face shine upon      

you, and be gracious to you!  

The LORD look upon you kindly and      

give you peace!

So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites,  

and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6: 22 - 27).

There is so much good meat in the word of God today. Let us feast on the word of God. It is right and fitting. 

"Brothers and sisters: When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.

"As proof that you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then also an heir, through God." (Galatians 4: 4 - 7).

Wednesday January 1, 2025 in the Octave of Christmas is the Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God. The THEOTOKOS. 

"Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as "the mother of my Lord". In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father's eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly "Mother of God" (Theotokos)." (CCC 495).

Our key Scripture says that in the fullness of time, God fulfilled the promise He made long ago. Are you waiting for the fullness of time on anything? Health, family, finances, job, tools and necessary resources?

Our Scripture today indicates that nothing happens until the fullness of time, the Kairos time. 

Do you have a relationship with Mary the Mother of God? Mary who after Jesus is our greatest intercessor in Heaven by the gracious and mysterious will of God is waiting to embrace and help you.  Mary is key to our knowledge and relationship with Jesus her Son. Mary is the only human being who knew Jesus from conception to His death to His Resurrection.

Mary Mother of God pray for us.

DAILY BIBLE VERSE @SeekFirstcommunity wishes you a 2025 full of Peace: 

The Lord bless you and keep you! The Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!

The Church honors the Most Holy Name of Jesus in January. 

“Faith in Jesus and in the power of His Holy Name is the greatest spiritual force in the world today.... " (Blessed Henry Suso - 1290 to 1365).

For the Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus and prayer intentions click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2023/12/litany-of-most-holy-name-of-jesus.html?m=1

POPE OF THE LAST DAY - SYLVESTER I.

LAST DAY OF 2024 - FEAST ST SYLVESTER I, PONTIFF. 

"Children, it is the last hour; 

and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming,

so now many antichrists have appeared. 

"Thus we know this is the last hour. 

They went out from us, but they were not really of our number;

if they had been, they would have remained with us. 

"Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number. 

"But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 

"I write to you not because you do not know the truth but because you do, and because every lie is alien to the truth."  (1 John 2: 18 - 21).

Tuesday 31st December 2024, LAST DAY OF 2024, 7th Day in the Octave of the Solemnity of Christmas is also the feast of St Sylvester I. Pontiff. 

On the Last Day of 2024, we celebrate the life and sanctity of Pope St Sylvester I.

Sylvester was elected to the Papacy on the last day of 314 AD and he died on the last day of 335 AD. Today is the last day of 2024. Coincidence No! Divine Providence. Yes! 

Sylvester served the Church at a very turbulent transition in Church history. Arian heresy and the Donatist schism threatened to destroy the Church.

Then Constantine appeared by Divine Providence and offered the Church relief and peace in 312 AD by legalizing and granting amnesty to Christians.

Pope St Sylvester attended the famous Council of Nicaea where the Nicene Creed recited by Christians of all faith today was ratified and promulgated. Pope St Sylvester contributed a great deal in the expansion of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

This is the last hour. The Apostle John warned.

The "Antichrists have appeared." Have you seen any? Below are some of the characteristics of the Man of lawlessness from the Christian Scriptures :

Deceit

Temporary success

Mass seduction

Adversary

Son of perdition

Opposed Christ.

Rival of Christ

(Cf 2 Thessalonians 2: 3 - 12; 1 John 2: 18, 2 John 7, Matthew 24: 23 - 26).

St Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church wrote thus of the Antichrist:

"As in Christ dwells the fullness of the Godhead so in Antichrist the fullness of all wickedness. Not indeed in the sense that his humanity is to be assumed by the devil into unity of person...but that the devil by suggestion infuses his wickedness more copiously into him than into all others. In this way all the wicked that have gone before are signs of Antichrist."  (St Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church). 

Before he became Pontiff, Pope St John Paul II warned in 1976 at the Eucharistic Congress in Philadelphia that we are now facing the final confrontation between the Antichrist and the Church.

Remember how King Henry VIII caught over 300 English Bishops napping in 1535? Only Bishop St John Fisher earned the crown of Martyrdom.

 Below is a prophetic teaching of the Church on the Antichrist from the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

"Before Christ's second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the "mystery of iniquity" in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh."   (CCC 675).

Is the current instabilities in the world the beginning of the Last Hour?

Do not be asleep. Be vigilant and pray at all times so that you may not fall into severe temptation. Do not become an Anti-Witness. This may be the Last Hour.

HAPPY SOLEMN OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS. 

Mary was conceived without original sin. This grace and privilege are fitting in view of the birth and death of her Son Jesus Christ, who is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. 

"O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, did prepare a worthy dwelling place for Your Son, we beseech You that, as by the foreseen death of this, Your Son, You did preserve Her from all stain, so too You would permit us, purified through Her intercession, to come unto You."

For the Immaculate Conception Devotions and Prayers and Prayer intentions click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/12/novena-to-immaculate-conception.html

THE 31 DAY NOVENA TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Link is below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/12/31-day-novena-to-immaculate-conception.html?m=1 

ANNA, PROPHETESS AND GREAT EVANGELIST.

A PROPHETESS & EVANGELIST CALLED ANNA. 

"There was a prophetess, Anna,

the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher.

She was advanced in years,

having lived seven years with her husband after her marriage,

and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.

She never left the temple,

but worshiped night and day with fasting and prayer.

And coming forward at that very time,

she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child

to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem.

When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions

of the law of the Lord,

they returned to Galilee,

to their own town of Nazareth.

The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom;

and the favor of God was upon him." (Luke 2: 36 - 40).

Monday 30th December 2024, 6th Day in the Octave in the Solemnity of Christmas.

Anna, the Prophetess and Evangelist dominates the Gospel Reading as if today is her patronal feast day. Who is Anna and why is she one of the humble and powerful prophets and evangelists in the Gospel?

#1 Anna lived in the Temple for decades and gave herself completely to worshiping God, serving, praying and fasting.

#2 Apart from Mary, Joseph and Simeon, Anna was one of the very first people to see Jesus as an Infant and recognized Him at once in faith as the awaited Messiah. She knew who He is at once and she carried Him in her arms! Wonderful! 

#3 Anna is one of the very first Evangelists to announce the Good News. 

"And coming forward at that very time, she [Anna] gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem." (Luke 2: 38).

What can we say about the character of Anna? The answer is from the first Reading today: (1 John 2: 15 - 17).

"Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, sensual lust, enticement for the eyes, and a pretentious life, is not from the Father but is from the world. Yet the world and its enticement are passing away. But whoever does the will of God remains forever." (1 John 2: 15 - 17).

Anna retired to the Temple after she lost her husband as a young woman. She chose not to remarry or hang around and enjoy her husband's wealth.

Brethren, the story of Anna teaches us that it is good to serve the Lord faithfully. Anna and Mary are two examples of great faithfulness in serving God. They faithfully served the Lord not for one year or 10 years or 50 years but day after day all life long. But what is most admirable is the faithfulness of God Himself.

The Bible says that faithfulness is the very essence of who God is. God's character is true and faithful. Both Anna, Mary and Joseph responded to the faithful love and mercies of God to them.

May we do the same everyday in 2025.

HAPPY SOLEMN OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS. 

Mary was conceived without original sin. This grace and privilege are fitting in view of the birth and death of her Son Jesus Christ, who is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity. 

"O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, did prepare a worthy dwelling place for Your Son, we beseech You that, as by the foreseen death of this, Your Son, You did preserve Her from all stain, so too You would permit us, purified through Her intercession, to come unto You."

For the Immaculate Conception Devotions and Prayers and Prayer intentions click the link below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/12/novena-to-immaculate-conception.html

THE 31 DAY NOVENA TO THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Link is below:

http://seekfirst.blogspot.com/2024/12/31-day-novena-to-immaculate-conception.html?m=1