Feast of the Holy Name

January 3,2004

by Rev. Herbert Nichols

One of the important and moving moments for parenting is choosing a name, which is literally giving an identity to the boy or girl. It may be a name that honors a family member, a name which creates a bond with a special patron in heaven or a very close friend of the family. As each child grows the name will develop its own personal history and meaning to all the people they will ever meet and encounter.

The Holy Name of Jesus, actually the Aramaic Yeshua, was not chosen by Mary and Joseph, but given by the angel Gabriel from God. It means the one who saves. It embodies the core truth of Jesus’ mission to save and redeem each of us. It is the truth to which John the Baptist points in today’s gospel. He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

This feast of the Holy Name was originally celebrated on January 2. It was removed from the calendar except for Franciscans in the reform of the Liturgy by the Second Vatican Council. The New Revised edition of the Sacramentary soon to be printed restored the feast to January 3. In the Book of Blessings there is both a Litany to Jesus Christ and a Litany to the Holy Name of Jesus. Through the prayer of litanies we acquire a deepening sense of awareness of the meaning of Jesus through His life: forgiveness, peace, healing, power, sacrificial love.

The name of Jesus can be a powerful source of meditation. There was great devotion to the Holy Name during the Middle Ages In our time devotion to the Holy Name often centers on restoring reverence for the abuse of the Holy Name

To know someone by name, to call someone by name is to begin to develop a relationship with that person. As we use the name of Jesus with reverence we develop our relationship with Him. The Jesus of the gospels is our teacher, and savior; but we can also come to know Him as our friend.

Today’s feast calls us to that renewed respect for the Holy Name of Jesus and to let it be the subject of our contemplation so that we can appreciate all that Jesus means in our life. The Name of Jesus is not just another name. It gathers evokes and embraces all that Jesus is and can be for each of us.