The Most Holy Name of Jesus Christ

1 Jn 2:29-3:6, Jn 1:29-34. Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus, Our Lord and Saviour, recalling the words of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary, the Mother of Jesus at the Annunciation: "Behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and you shall bear a son, and you shall call his name: JESUS" (Lk. 1:31). This name according to Paul, "is the Name above every other names" (Phil. 2:9). There is no other name by which we have received salvation and only at the Name of Our Lord Jesus, we have received Him who is our Saviour and Liberator, the One who freed us from bondage to sin and punishment of death. As Jesus was born as the Son of Man through His Mother Mary, He received this Name, Jesus, just like we have received our names.

What makes this Name so special and so far beyond other names is the fundamental fact that Jesus is not just Man, but also fully God, incarnate in the Flesh. That is why, if the name ‘YHVH’ was considered to be so Holy and a grave taboo to be mentioned by the Jews, the Name ‘Jesus’ is also Holy and Sacred. That was why Pope Gregory X at the Second Council of Lyons in the year 1274 proclaimed that we should bow reverently at every mention of the Holy Name of Jesus. Our witnessing to this Holy Name cannot be effective if we remain attached to the world. Jesus challenges us to live a life of renunciation and self-sacrifice. Anyone who truly wants to win souls for Christ must live an authentic life as Jesus lived; St John brought out this fact in today's first reading. True faith in Jesus must go together with a Godly life; for faith makes us the 'chosen' of God. To live otherwise is to become the children of the devil.

May the Holy Name of Jesus restrain us from the impulse of anger, calm the swelling of pride, heal the wounds of envy, repress the insatiability of luxury, smoothen the flame of lust, quench the thirst of avarice and dispel the fever of uncleanness! Amen!! Good morning and have a wonderful day!!!