Today, we have the feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. This feast is a beautiful occasion to venerate and to make reparation for the flippant use of the name that means, God saves.
St. Paul in his Letter to the Philippians wrote, “So that at Jesus’ name every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father: Jesus Christ is Lord” (2:10-11).
May all who reverently call on the holy name of Jesus know the saving power and healing love of God. Four gifts when reverently invoking the Holy Name:
1. help in bodily needs;
2. help in spiritual trials;
3. help against Satan and his temptations;
4. every grace and blessing through the Holy Name of Jesus.
With the Novus Ordo observance of Epiphany the two liturgical observances can cohere. Some may be familiar with the Holy Name Society, first organized in 1274 and granted the status of a confraternity in 1564. Connecticut used to have the HNS in great numbers and now reduced to a handful today. I can think of only one and even there it is only a social group with no apologetic thrust.
One point that brings this feast into focus for those of us who follow the Benedictine charism is that the feast necessarily involves reverence for the Holy Name of Jesus, especially if we take seriously the role intercession before the Throne of Grace and adoration of the Lord. Keep this in mind.