In the Gospel today, Jesus commands us to remain in his love just as Jesus has kept his Father’s commandments and has remained in his Father’s love. Jesus’ relationship with God the Father was at the foundation of his teachings and his proclamation of God’s kingdom.
As such, Jesus’ human and divine identity was the subject of a great deal of discussion and controversy in the Early Church. The Arian heresy arose as a part of this controversy, named after Arius, a teacher and priest who lived in Alexandria, Egypt in the 4th century. Arius argued that Jesus was a created being with divine attributes rather than a being who was eternally divine. Arius and his beliefs were labeled as heresy at the Council of Nicea in 325. Jesus’ eternal divine nature was professed in the Nicene Creed that came out of that council. I bring up the Arian heresy because the saint we celebrate today, St Athanasius, was instrumental in defeating the Arian heresy. Athanasius was a strong voice in this debate in his role as Bishop of Alexandria, an important leadership position in the Early Church. This controversy and debate were so heated in the Early Church that Athanasius was exiled five different times for his defense of the doctrine of Christ’s divinity. His writings on the Arian heresy are considered important theological works in the history of the Church, earning Athanasius the title of Doctor of the Church. Among his celebrated writings is the Life of St Anthony, a biography of the famous Desert Father. This biography of Anthony and his teachings are said to have had a great influence on the development of monasticism in the Western Church. We celebrate St Athanasius today and unite our prayer to his.
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