The Most Holy Name of Jesus
Tuesday
HOLY NAME OF JESUS 10TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS
Romans, Chapter 13, Verse 8-10
8 Owe
nothing to anyone, except to LOVE one
another; for the one who loves
another has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not
commit adultery; you shall not kill; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,”
and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this saying,
[namely] “You shall love your neighbor
as yourself.” 10 Love does no evil to the neighbor; hence, love
is the fulfillment of the law.
Bishop Fulton Sheen is one of his weekly addresses in February 1999 entitled "Truth - Forgotten Ideal” stated:
Submission is
one of the deepest needs of the human heart. After a century and a half of
false liberalism, in which it was denied that anything is true, and that it
makes no difference what you believe, the world reacted to totalitarianism. It
grew tired of its freedom, just as children in progressive schools grow tired
of their license to do whatever they please. Freedom fatigues those who want to
shirk responsibility. Then it is they look for some false god into whose hands
they can throw themselves, so they will never have to think or make decisions
for themselves. Nazism, Fascism, and Communism came into being during the
twentieth century, as a reaction against false liberalism.
The Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus[1]
Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus was originally reserved to the Feast of the Circumcision, since it was at His circumcision that our Lord received His name. But because of the growth of this devotion, a separate feast was instituted, first by the Franciscans in the seventeenth century, then by the universal Church (its date was permanently fixed by Pope St. Pius X). One of the most cherished customs of this feast is singing the hymn, Jesu, Dulcis Memoria by St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the great medieval monk and tireless promoter of devotion to the Holy Name. The Litany of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, recited either after Mass or in procession, is also a popular devotion.
Holy Name of Jesus[2]
The Name Jesus as had been foretold by the angel. The feast
is meant to impress on us Christians the dignity of the Holy Name. What did a
name signify originally? The name should
express the nature of a thing. Thus, Adam in paradise gave the animals names in
accordance with their being. Among the Jews God's name expressed His essence,
Yahweh, i.e., I (alone) am who am (and cause all else to be). The Jews had the
highest respect for the name of God, a reverence that finds continuation in the
Our Father: "Hallowed be Thy Name." Persons who played prominent
roles in the history of salvation often received their names from God Himself.
Adam — man of the earth; Eve — mother of all the living; Abraham — father of
many nations; Peter — the rock. The Savior's precursor was given the name God
assigned him. According to divine precedent, then, the name of the Redeemer
should not be accidental, of human choosing, but given by God Himself. For His
name should express His mission. We read in Sacred Scripture how the angel
Gabriel revealed that name to Mary: "You shall call His name Jesus."
And to St. Joseph the angel not merely revealed the name but explained its
meaning: "You shall call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins." The Messiah should not only be the savior but should be
called Savior. With Jesus, therefore, the name actually tells the purpose of
His existence. This is why we must
esteem His name as sacred. Whenever we pronounce it, we ought to bow our heads;
for the very name reminds us of the greatest favor we have ever received,
salvation.
Jesus[3]
His name was called Jesus, which was called by the Angel
before He was conceived in the womb." LUKE ii. 21.
1. It is not difficult to meditate upon
the Holy Name, or to use the Holy Name in prayer. More than any other name,
perhaps alone among all proper names, it is appropriate to the One Who owned
it. Usually, the names of men are given at random; they mean nothing in
themselves; a man who happens to be called John might just as well have been
called Thomas or William; the mere name tells us nothing about him; it is a
convenient means of distinguishing him from others, a label put upon him and
little or no more With a few human beings it has been otherwise: Adam, Abraham,
Josue, John the Baptist were given names that signified the men on whom they
were bestowed. But with none is this so true as it is with our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. With care the Angel impressed it on His Mother's mind: "Thou
shalt call His name Jesus," he said, and there followed the description of
His future greatness. With care it was repeated to Joseph: Thou shalt call His
name Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins.
2. The Name stands as a complete summary
and description of our Lord's character and office, and it is under this aspect
that it has been regarded by thousands of saints, whose hearts have melted at
its mere sound. To them Jesus is their God, Jesus is their King, Jesus is their
Redeemer, Jesus is their Mediator, Jesus is their Savior, Jesus is their great
Priest, Jesus is their Intercessor, Jesus is the Captain under Whom they fight,
Jesus is the Leader Whom they follow, Jesus is their Teacher, Jesus is the
Giver of their law, Jesus is the Spouse and Shepherd of their souls, Jesus is
their Light, Jesus is their Life, Jesus is the Judge before Whom they rejoice
to think that they must one day stand, Jesus is their final and eternal Reward,
for which alone they live.
3. But He is also to them the mirror of
all the most glorious and winning virtues. He is, and His Name tells them that
He is, unbounded Charity, infinite Mercy, extremist Kindness, deepest Humility,
most devoted Piety, transparent Simplicity, uttermost Poverty, Chastity without
a stain. It is the prerogative of love to transform those who love into the
likeness of Him Whom they love; and as the mere name of one who is loved cannot
sound in the ear or be thought of in the mind without adding to the love which
is already there, so the thought of the Holy Name and the mention of the Holy
Name have a kind of sacramental power in the hearts of His saints. They seem to
convey the grace which enables men to think like Him, to speak like Him, to act
like Him, to sacrifice themselves like Him, and to Him, and for Him, and along
with Him, to make Him known to others, not by word only, but also by
reproduction of Him in themselves, and to win all men to love Him.
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within thee bless His Holy Name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all He hath done for thee. Ps. cii. i, 2.
Names are important.[4]
Most of us remember the elementary school playground and the mean names kids called each other. Author and speaker, Kary Oberbrunner, states that we all have a secret name that the One who made us gives us. Oberbrunner said, “My name is Kary, and I have a girl’s name.” He was no stranger to mean names on the playground. He went on to say that each of us has three names:
- Our birth name – the name assigned to us when we arrive in this
world
- Our given names – the names assigned to us as we walk through
the world. These names can be positive and negative, ranging from
successful, beautiful, star athlete to those names assigned by mean kids,
like concentration camp victim, stupid, addict.
- Our secret name – the name granted to us by God, Oberbrunner
said the problem is our birth names and given names don’t ever fill up the
void inside us. We pretend and wear masks.
What would God call you? When Christ called his apostles; He revealed to some of them God’s name for them. Sons of Thunder for John and James and for Simon son of John, He called him Peter which means “Rock”.
Christmas Calendar[5]
Read "But the one name that contains
everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS.
The divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming humanity the
Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: "Jesus,"
"YHWAH saves." The name "Jesus" contains all: God and man
and the whole economy of creation and salvation. To pray "Jesus" is
to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains
the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name
of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for
him. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 2666)
Reflect "May he—who did not shrink from
taking a beginning like ours—perfect in us his gifts, and may he also make us
children of God, he who for our sakes wished to become a child of man." —
St. Augustine, Sermons, 184
Pray Today we remember and honor the Most
Holy Name of Jesus. Take time to read the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus.
Act Make reading the daily readings a part of your New Year's habits this
year.
Today is the tenth day of Christmas
the 10 Lord’s a leaping are a sign for the Ten Commandments.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION TWO-THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
CHAPTER ONE-YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR
GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND
Article 3
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you
shall labor, and do all your work; but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord
your God; in it you shall not do any work.
The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath; so
the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.
Daily
Devotions
· Unite
in the work of the Porters of St.
Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: The
Pope
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday
Devotion
·
Pray Day 1 of
the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
·
Tuesday:
Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
· Rosary
[3]Goffine’s
Devout Instructions, 1896.
Home Alone 2
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