Homily for the Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church

January 2, 2026
SEEK Conference
Grapevine, Texas

1 John 2:22-28
Psalm 98:1-2-3ab, 3cd-4
John 1:19-28

So many of us have come here to SEEK in order to renew old friendships from last year and to establish new friendships among all of us who are gathered here this week. It is truly an opportunity for Christian friendship as we start a new year and as we continue our celebration of the liturgical season of Christmas. It is therefore providential that on this day the Church offers us the liturgical Memorial of Saint Basil the Great and Saint Gregory Nazianzen, because they were not only monks, not only bishops, not only doctors of the Church, but above all — they were truly close Christian friends since the time of their youth during which they studied together at what would be the equivalent of their college years.

Saint Gregory Nazianzen and Saint Basil were able to remain friends and to grow in their friendship because they each were first friends with Jesus Christ. They endured much suffering together. Remember that Jesus told His Apostles, and by extension Gregory and Basil, and each of us, “You are my friends if you do what I command you. I know longer call you slaves because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father.” To be a friend of Jesus Christ, as Christ Himself taught us, is to do what He commands us to do: to love our neighbor, to forgive our enemies, to offer shelter to someone who has nowhere to lay his head. It is to clothe the naked, comfort the sorrowing, and to give food to the hungry. It is to visit the imprisoned and it is to care for those who are sick, all because we recognize our friend Jesus in each of these people.

To be a friend of Christ is to listen to His teaching and to accept His sovereignty over our lives. It is to witness to Him through our words and actions that what He says is true. He is owed our fidelity and friendship because He has redeemed us from our sins through His humanity that is wed completely and perfectly with His true Divine nature. Thus, Jesus Christ is truly the face of justice and also the face of mercy for all of us who have been held captive and enslaved by our sins. There exists a throne in each of our souls and it is for Christ to reign from that place, but if we do not invite Him into our hearts to reign and accept His terms for true friendship, that place will become a desert and something else will take Christ’s rightful place. Christ will soon be mistreated by us as either a rival for our freedom or as a mascot for our own agenda.

At the heart of Christian friendship and of friendship with Christ is the Truth and one’s willingness to be truthful and honest because Jesus Christ is the truth, and it is impossible for Him to deceive or to be deceived. He reveals everything there is to know of God: His beauty, His complete goodness, His truthfulness, His perfect love, and His omnipotence. Christ spoke honestly and invites and enables us through His Grace to speak as honestly as He does. As Saint Gregory Nazianzen wrote about his friendship with Saint Basil, “Our great pursuit, the great name we wanted, was to be called Christians. If it is not too boastful to say, we found in each other a standard and rule for discerning right from wrong.”

In our first reading, Saint John warns us very directly, “Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ.” The liar is the evil one. It is the deceit of the evil one that presents slavery as freedom, oppression as friendship, and cruelty as love. The liar subordinates Christ to our own selfish ends and convinces us into thinking that this is adequate for our relationship with Jesus.

To illustrate this point: The story of the lifelong friendship of Saint Basil and Saint Gregory Nazianzen also includes a third friend from their college years. The Emperor Julian the Apostate had been a close friend of theirs during those years and enjoyed studies with them and all of what is to be enjoyed by anyone at college. He too had been baptized and had believed what the Gospel holds to be true about Christ’s full revelation.

Yet, years later, after he became emperor, Julian no longer found Christ to be useful for governing his life or the Empire. He rejected Christ and the true faith and attempted to start a new religion that removed Christ, the Son of God, from His rightful status and replaced Him with false gods and the primacy of pagan philosophy. He attempted to maintain the good works of Christian life and social outreach but with clear rejection of Jesus Christ as the Son of God. He rejected the name of Christian and disrespected Christians so much by referring to them as Galileans.

In rejecting the divinity of Christ, Julian the Apostate rejected his friendship with Basil and Gregory who would not go along with his delusion. Yet, they kept their true friendship with him by praying for his conversion and forgiving him for his attacks against them, and for leading others to persecute them for their fidelity to Christ and His authentic Gospel.

“Who is the liar? It is whoever rejects that Jesus is the Christ.” The liar still tries to deceive us but if we stay close to Christ as our friend, we can reject this deception in favor of Christ who is all forgiving, all merciful, and all just and who knows us and loves us. This week and this day is especially a gift from God to renew our friendships in Christ just as Basil and Gregory Nazianzen did throughout their lives. And to do that, Christ is first giving us the opportunity and gift of renewing our friendships with Him through Word and Sacrament, through prayer and service. It is a time for us to spend with Jesus Christ our faithful friend and sovereign. As we receive Him again in the Eucharist offered on this altar, we pray that His grace will keep us His friends and make straight His path to reign as king in the previously deserted areas of our souls.