Saint Basil the Great presents in two of his homilies – Homily IV, on the giving of thanks, and Homily V, on Julitta, a lady of Cæsarea, martyred in 306 – the teachings of Saint Apostle Paul to the Thessalonians regarding the joy, the prayer and the thanksgiving: “Rejoice always! Pray constantly. Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1Thessalonians 5, 16-18). These teachings are addressed to all Christians, of all ages, and the Holy Father found it necessary to update and remind these to his contemporaries as a requirement for any Christian living with the hope of salvation. St. Basil's arguments on how these three aspects need to be perceived by every Christian, so beautifully concentrated by Saint Paul, made me feel like he addressed to us more than to his contemporaries. The same sense of actuality was felt for sure by all generations of Christians before us and it will manifest in all future generations. That is why I have chosen to highlight the importance of this three aspects of a Christian life – joy, prayer and thanksgiving – and that it is our mission to continuously update them and make them part of our believers life. Now, more than ever, we find that joy, prayer and thanksgiving are not present in people’s life as they should be or as Saint Paul meant in his writings and from this point of view we are probably not too different from the first or forth century Christians, so an update of these teachings in our lives is always necessary. We must note that these three aspects – the joy, prayer and thanksgiving – are not meant to distinguish Christians from non-Christians, but should be a way of life, learned and experienced by each of us, a way that ultimately is the essential characteristic of what it is to be a Christian and a follower of the Gospel of Christ. Actually, all of these three characteristics were part of preaching and life of our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Holy Scripture of New Testament is filled with texts that call for joy, prayer and thanksgiving, for that joy is the symbol of resurrection and eternal life, prayer is what brings answers to human worries through the grace of God and thanksgiving is what we have to actually feel in response to all the gifts received from God.
