主顯節前 (週五) (2009年1月2日)聖巴西略主教聖師及聖額我略納齊安主教聖師 A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John 1:19-28 St. Basil the Great & St. Gregory Mazianzen

神父講道 - 主顯節前 (週五) (2009年1月2日)
聖巴西略主教聖師及聖額我略納齊安主教聖師 (紀念)
恭讀聖若望福音 1:19-28這是若翰所作的見證：當猶太人從耶路撒冷派遣了司祭和肋未人，到他那裡問他說：「你是誰」他明明承認，並沒有否認，他明認說：「我不是默西亞。」他們問他 說：「那麼你是誰？你是厄里亞嗎？」他說：「我不是。」「你是那位先知嗎？」他回答說：「不是。」於是他們問他說：「你究竟是誰？好叫我們給那派遣我們來 的人一個答覆。你自己說你是誰？」他說：「我是在曠野裡呼喊者的聲音：修直上主的道路！正如依撒意亞先知所說的。」被派遣來的有些是法利塞人。他們又問他 說：「你既不是默西亞，又不是厄里亞，又不是那位先知，那麼，你為什麼施洗呢？」若翰答覆他們說：「我以水施洗。你們中間站著一位，是你們不認識的；他在 我以後來，我卻當不起解他的鞋帶。」這些事發生於約旦河對岸的伯達尼，若翰施洗的地方。
—這是基督的福音。
A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to John 1:19-28
St. Basil the Great & St. Gregory Mazianzen
19And this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, he did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 They said to him then, “Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 24 Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water; but among you stands one whom you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the thong of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.” 28 This took place in Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
—The Gospel of the Lord.
聖巴西略(St. Basil the Great)一月二日 (主教、聖師）（紀念）
聖巴西略在公元三三○年生於加巴陶的凱撒肋雅城。及長，德學雙全，開始度隱修生活。公元三七○年，祝聖為本城主教，力斥亞略異端，著作等身，馳名於世，尤其是他所定的隱修規則，現在仍為東方多數隱修院之圭臬。他一生慷慨幫助窮人。公元三七九年一月一日逝世。
聖額我略．納齊安 (主教、聖師）（紀念）(St. Gregory Nazianzen)
額我略．納齊安與巴西略同年出生於納齊安附近。為求學起見，多次遠行。在曠野中，與巴西略為友，亦先後祝聖為司鐸和主教。公元三八一年當選為君士坦丁堡主教；因教區內發生黨派糾紛，乃返納齊安；三八九或三九○年一月二十五日安逝於該城，聖人博學善辯，故有「神學家」之稱。
聖額我略．納齊安 St. Gregory Nazianzen(主教、聖師）（紀念）
額我略．納齊安與巴西略同年出生於納齊安附近。為求學起見，多次遠行。在曠野中，與巴西略為友，亦先後祝聖為司鐸和主教。公元三八一年當選為君士坦丁堡主教；因教區內發生黨派糾紛，乃返納齊安；三八九或三九○年一月二十五日安逝於該城，聖人博學善辯，故有「神學家」之稱。
St. Basil the Great
Feastday: January 2Patron of hospital administrators379
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.