Editor’s note: This saint series will feature a saint and how he or she is a meaningful example for us today. This homily was given by Deacon Luke Daghir at St. Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore on May 2: The Memorial of St. Athanasius. Pope Benedict XVI’s book “Church Fathers” was used for research.

Jesus said, “The Father and I are one.” Keep this in mind as we remember St. Athanasius of Alexandria. Athanasius fought against the heresy known as Arianism in the 4th century. Arianism reduced Jesus to a creature, who is “half-way” between God and man. In other words, Arianism rejected the full divinity of Jesus.

Athanasius became Bishop of Alexandria, Egypt in the year 328 A.D.; which was three years after the Council of Nicea had definitively stated that Jesus is of the same substance as the Father. However, Arianism re-surged like a virus that simply does not go away.

Arianism continued for decades, complicating the faith of many and causing divisions within the Church. The Arians opposed Athanasius with great hostility. Within a 30 year time frame, Athanasius had to leave his city of Alexandria five different times, spending 17 years total in exile.

However, Athanasius never gave up on defending Jesus’ divinity. Whether home in Alexandria, or abroad in exile, he continued to teach what the Council of Nicea taught about the true divinity of Jesus.

Arianism can be seen “manifested today in various forms.” Think of Jesus being referred to as simply a good moral teacher. Heresies continue to morph like viruses, sickening generation after generation.

It was over 100 years ago when St. John Henry Newman wrote, “Christianity has never yet had experience of a world simply irreligious”… and Newman also wrote “I think that the trials which lie before us are such as would appal and make dizzy even such courageous hearts as St. Athanasius…”

Newman’s insight appears to be prophetic in our time as the soul of America seems vulnerable. America’s current spiritual immune system is particularly susceptible to these variations of heresies.

The Second Vatican Council rightly called for a return to the sources known as (ad fontes or ressourcement); meaning a return to scripture, but also a return to the Patristic Fathers (those from the first 300 years of the Church’s history).

We must do what St. Athanasius did: to charitably and courageously defend against the heresies that will show themselves again.

Pope Francis wrote that “the saints help all the faithful” for “their lives are concrete proof that it is possible to put the Gospel into practice.” St. Athanasius is an example for us today to charitably and courageously defend the true identity of Jesus.

Luke Daghir is a deacon for the Diocese of Erie. He is with St. Joseph and St. Luke Parishes in Warren County for his parish mission. His favorite saints are St. Andrew, St. Ignatius, St. Hubert, and Pope St. John Paul II.