“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?” – John 14:9–10
Before the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, Arius, a priest from Alexandria in Egypt caused great controversy in the Church by preaching that the Son was a created being. The Council, after hearing his arguments and those of others, determined that Arius’s teaching was not in accordance with the Gospel. In the years that followed, when adherents to Arius’s false teaching grew in power in Alexandria, Saint Athanasius, as bishop of that city, faithful servant of the Gospel and shepherd of the Christians of that diocese, never ceased to proclaim the faith of the Gospel defined at Nicaea: the Son is Light from Light, True God from True God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father. In the face of constant threats to his life, even being forced to flee from the city of Alexandria repeatedly, having to run off the road to hide from violent search parties of Arians, Saint Athanasius continued to proclaim this faith in Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, the Eternal Son of the Eternal Father.
Let us pray in thanksgiving for those who have faithfully handed on the Catholic and Apostolic Faith. Let us give thanks for this beautiful reality of the unity of the Son and the Father from all eternity. Above all, let us give thanks for the glorious invitation of the Risen Son to enter into God’s life forever.