Happy New Year! Today, we celebrate the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, the Church finds her whole good, she invokes it unceasingly; she proclaims it with ever new ardor. It is the divine name which alone brings salvation “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus Himself shows us the saving power of His name, giving us this consoling certitude: “If you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in my name” (John 16:23).
Jesus was the name given by the angel before Christ’s birth “You shall name him Jesus” (Luke 1: 31). It was the name by which our Lord was known in His family and among His friends in Nazareth. Exalted by the crowds and invoked by the sick during the years of His public ministry, it calls to mind His identity and mission as Savior. “Jesus” means “God saves”. A blessed name, which also proved to be a sign of contradiction, it was written on the Cross in justification of His death sentence – “Jesus, King of the Jews”. But this name, in the supreme sacrifice of Golgotha, shone forth as a life-giving name in which God offers the grace of reconciliation and peace to all.
Have you ever noticed such symbols like IHS or IHC on various liturgical items, like priest’s vestments, baptismal fonts, or stain glass windows? The use of Christogram or a monogram of Jesus Christ’s name started in the early days of Christianity. The Christogram “IHS” or “IHC“, denotes the first three letters of the Greek name of Jesus, spelt in Greek capitals, “ΙΗΣΟΥΣ” or has the abbreviations ΙΗΣ. The Greek letter iota is represented by I, and the eta by H, while the Greek letter sigma is represented by S. Within the Eastern Christian tradition, a Christogram with four-letter abbreviation, ΙϹΧϹ is used.
Throughout the history of the Church Christians have venerated the name of Jesus. Honoring our Savior’s name fulfills the word of Saint Paul: “God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:10)
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux promoted devotion to the holy name of Jesus. He wrote: “The Name of Jesus is Light, and Food, and Medicine. It is Light, when it is preached to us; it is Food, when we think upon it; it is the Medicine that soothes our pains when we invoke it.”
The Catechism summarizes the power of Jesus’ name when it says: “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” (2666).
Saint Paul says “Whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col 3:17).
There are many other references to the power of Jesus’ name in Scriptures. In the Acts of the Apostles, the name of Jesus healed the lame and brought the dead back to life. Saint Peter heals a man at the Beautiful Gate by invoking the Holy Name of Jesus. He said, “I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, rise and walk.” (Acts 3: 6)
The holy name is a protection from the devil, who has been conquered by Jesus on the cross and fears his name. In the name of Jesus the blind regain sight, the paralytics or lame walk, the sick are healed, the oppressed are set free, those possessed by demon are set free, and the poor has the good news proclaimed to them.
As we begin new year, let us learn to call on the Holy Name of Jesus, invoking the name of Jesus with adoring love, putting it at the center of our prayer. “Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand”
May Mary put on our lips and impress on our hearts this most holy Name from which comes our salvation, each day in our lives, Amen.
Merry Christmas!
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