Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Friday in weekday of Christmas, January 2nd, 2025, Memorial of Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church

Delivered by Randy from the Parish of Christ the King in the Archdiocese of Makassar, Indonesia. 1 John 2: 22-28; Rs psalm 98: 1.2-3ab.3cd-4; John 1: 19-28. VOICE AND WORD The title for ourmeditation today is: Voice and Word. Today our Church commemorates Saint Basilthe Great and Gregory of Nasianze. Both are the Church fathers, and the Churchscholars who were instrumental in strengthening the mission of the Church inthe Asia Minor area, of ​​what is now Turkey and surroundings. They are bothexamples of the face and body of Christ in the Middle East and parts of EasternEurope. Throughout this yearwe will be faced with a challenge in the form of the question: "Who areyou?". This question is what people asked John the Baptist about hisidentity. They were disturbed if there were people so famous and seen asprophets with great influence, especially reagrding the view about the comingof the Messiah, or about the holy prophet Elijah thought to rise from death.John's testimony really confused them with mix feelings of wonder, fear,curiosity, annoyance, anger, and challenged. If now we are alsoconfronted with that same question, what would our best answer be? Let us lookback at the two saints, Basil and Gregory who were indeed the face of Christ inthe place where they worked. Our view can go back further, namely to John theBaptist. He also revealed the true face of Christ to all his listeners. Another expressionsimilar to this, is what we can call "the voice for the word". JesusChrist is the eternal Word of God. Whereas John the Baptist, Saints Basil andGregory and every Christian as His followers, must be the voices who proclaim theWord, which is Jesus Christ. To act as the voice, we are very dependent on theWord, the source of truth and as the content of our voices. Because if thesound has no connection with the word, the voice might express another alienword or not saying at all any word. In accordance withour faith, the Word is surely only the Lord Jesus. Because if it were not theLord Jesus, we would have never been preaching the Word through the works andmission of the Church. To be a voice for the Lord Jesus, we need the ability ofthe supporting instruments. First and foremost is the primary instrument, whichis each of us with different abilities. There are people who are gifted inknowledge, there are people who are gifted in action, and there are those whoare exemplary in life. The secondaryinstrument is the means of communication that help us to convey the Word toreach more people. Language, writings, music, dance, microphones, speakers,computers and online media have become part of the voice for the Word. Le usmake use of them with good intention and great impact for public audience. Let's pray. In the name of the Father... O Father almighty and everliving God, bless us and teach us to knowourselves in Jesus Christ so that we may reach perfection as You wish us to be.Our Father who art in heaven ... In the name of the Father ...