SERMON BY SAINT GRÉGOIRE DE NAZIANZE FOR THE FEAST OF LIGHTS
“Those who see the light are in the light”.
Christ is illuminated by baptism, let us shine with him; he is immersed in water, let us descend with him to rise with him. ~
John is baptizing, and Jesus approaches; perhaps to sanctify the one who is going to baptize him; certainly to bury the whole of the old Adam at the bottom of the water. But before that and with that in mind, he sanctifies the Jordan. And since he is spirit and flesh, he wants to be able to initiate through water and Spirit.
The Baptist refused to baptize him. Jesus insists. But: I’m the one who needs to be baptized by you. This is how the lamp speaks to the sun, the voice to the Word, the friend of the Bridegroom to the Bridegroom, the greatest of women’s children to the first-born of all creation ; the one who leapt in his mother’s womb to the one who was worshipped in her womb, the present and future forerunner to the one who has just appeared and will reappear. It is I who need to be baptized by you. Let John add: and sacrificing myself for you. For he knew that he would receive the baptism of martyrdom; or, like Peter, that his feet alone would not be cleansed. ~
But here is Jesus rising from the water. Indeed, he carries the world. With him, he raises it up; he sees the heavens torn open, whereas Adam had closed them for him and his descendants, when he was expelled from the paradise defended by the sword of fire.
Then the Spirit testifies to his divinity, for he runs to him who is of the same nature. A voice descends from heaven, to bear witness to the one who came from it; and, in the guise of a dove, it honors the body, since God, by showing himself in corporeal appearance, also divinizes the body. This is how, many centuries ago, a dove came to announce the good news of the end of the flood.
For us, let us honor Christ’s baptism today, and celebrate this feast in a blameless manner. ~
Be completely purified, and purify yourselves again. For nothing gives God so much joy as the recovery and salvation of man: that is what all this discourse and all this mystery are aimed at. Be like sources of light in the world, a vital force for other men. As perfect lights assisting the great Light, be initiated into the life of light that is in heaven; be illuminated with greater clarity and brilliance by the Holy Trinity, of which you have now received, in a limited way, a single ray, coming from the one divinity, in Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom belong glory and power for ever and ever. Amen.
Response
R/ Lord Jesus, you are the light of the world!
The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,” he said,
“for he has anointed me.
He sent me to bring the Good News to the poor,
to proclaim freedom, to announce the time of grace.
It is from God that I have come and gone,
I have not come of myself. God sent me.
Te Deum
To you God, our praise!
We acclaim you, you are Lord!
To you eternal Father,
The hymn of the universe.
Before you bow the archangels,
the angels and the spirits of heaven;
they give you thanks;
they worship and sing:
Holy, holy, holy, the Lord,
God of the universe;
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
The Apostles glorify you,
the prophets proclaim you,
the martyrs bear witness to you;
the Church proclaims and recognizes you throughout the world
.
God, we adore you:
infinitely holy Father,
eternal and beloved Son,
Spirit of power and peace.
Christ, the Son of the living God,
the Lord of glory,
you were not afraid to take on flesh
in the body of a virgin
to free captive humanity.
By your victory over death,
you have opened the gates of the Kingdom to every believer
;
you reign at the right hand of the Father;
you will come to judgment.
Show yourself the defender and friend
of men saved by your blood:
take them with all the saints
in your joy and in your light.
Oraison
Eternal and almighty God, when Christ was baptized in the Jordan, and the Holy Spirit rested upon him, you designated him as your beloved Son; grant that your adopted sons, born of water and the Spirit, may always keep to your holy will.
