Just a few days ago, the calendar new year opened with the beautiful Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God. As always, Mary points us to her Son. The Gospel for the solemnity ends by telling us, “When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.”
Today is the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus! The Catholic Church reminds us to honor the Name of our Lord and directs our attention to its significance.
In Jesus, all the Old Testament prophecies and types find fulfillment. Like other people's names, His carries His identity. In Hebrew, it is Yeshua (which is partially derived from Yahweh, “I am who I am,” the Holy Name of God given to Moses from the burning bush). “Yeshua” means “Yahweh is salvation” or “the LORD is salvation.”
Just as the Holy Name could seldom be spoken aloud in the Old Testament and in Jesus's own time out of reverence, the saints have reminded us to revere the Name of Jesus, to never blaspheme the Holy Name or use it in vain. As Jesus is God, voicing His Name flippantly or disrespectfully goes against the second commandment.
The Apostles recognized the significance of Jesus's Name. Our Lord Himself told them and tells us, “And whatever you ask in my name, I will do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son” (John 14:13). The Name of Jesus is active and bears fruit; it is not sterile or stagnant.
The Apostles even go so far as to believe that there is no salvation outside of Jesus's Name. After the Resurrection, while being questioned by the priests and scribes in Jerusalem, Peter talks about his Lord Jesus, saying, “There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Not too long after this, the Apostles find themselves before the priestly class once more (because they continue preaching in Jesus's Name), and the Sadducees are bitter and angry. They put them on trial, which ends in a harsh punishment:
After recalling the apostles, they had them flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. So they left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name (Acts 5:40-41).
The Apostles were pleased to be able to suffer out of love for Jesus! There is strength in Jesus's Name.
When I went to a Steubenville conference in high school, the band Alob performed live, supplying the music for various events including Mass and a Eucharistic procession. Alob's cover of “Living Water” is a song I occasionally revisit. The most comforting, uplifting lines are the refrain “Jesus, your Name is power/You are the living water.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church further stresses the significance and power connected to the Name of Jesus:
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 (CCC 2666).
I italicized a sentence in this passage that is a big deal. Our Lord's Name is not just an identity marker. “Jesus” is not just another name. His Name is sacramental; it makes present the One it signifies – the Risen One, King of Glory, Prince of Peace, the Almighty! When we prayerfully repeat the Holy Name, Jesus is here with us!
The Catechism also reminds us that “henceforth all can invoke his name, for Jesus united himself to all men through his Incarnation” (CCC 432). In every need and holy desire, Jesus comes to our aid. He is the God of Gentile and Jew alike, of every person who has been bestowed the gift of life. And the Name of Jesus is universally powerful.