"See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God."
– 1 John 3:1
– 1 John 3:1
CALLED BY HIS NAME
Today
we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. According to the
CatholicCulture.org the entire month of January is traditionally
dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. The devotion to the Holy Name is
deeply rooted in Sacred Scriptures and was promoted especially by St.
Bernardine of Siena, St. John Capistrano and the Franciscan Order.
The feast is meant to impress on us Christians the dignity of the Holy
Name and St. Bernardine promoted it through the inscription of the
monogram of the Holy Name (HIS), from the Latin Jesus Hominum Salvator, meaning “Jesus, Savior of men.”
Do you know what I find even more amazing about Jesus, besides being
the “Savior of men?” Because of Him, God the Father calls us His
children as well. Because of His love and ultimate sacrifice on the
cross, I can call myself God’s daughter, God’s anointed one, God’s
powerful champion.
And guess what? You can do the same, too. Go ahead – call upon the name
of the Lord and be saved (Romans 10:13). As a child of God, you’re
totally allowed to do so. Tina Santiago-Rodriguez
1ST READING
Sin has never been a part of God’s plan and never will be. Sin is not a
part of our human nature per se – it tis the result of bad choices we
make. God responded to our sins and sent us a Redeemer. However, this
does not give us a license to sin. The saints have realized this truth
most strongly. When one reads the writings, it is quire plain to see
that they have developed a horror and hatred for even the smallest of
sins, as they understand the depth with which sin separates us from the
love of God. Sin kills life – the fullness of life God desired for us.
1 John 2:29-3:6
29If you consider that God is righteous, you also know that everyone who acts in righteousness is begotten by him. 3: 1/see
what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the
children of God. Yet so we are. The reason the world does not know us is
that it did not know him. 2Beloved,
we are God’s children now; what we shall be has not yet been revealed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall
see him as he is. 3Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure. 4Everyone who commits sin commits lawlessness, for sin is lawlessness. 5You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and him there is no sin. 6No one who remains in him sins; no one who sins has seen him or known him.
P S A L M
Psalm 98:1,3-4, 5-6
R: All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
1Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done wondrous deeds; his right hand has won victory for him, his holy arm. (R) 3All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God. 4Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands; break into song; sing praise. (R) 5Sing praise to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and melodious song. 6With trumpets and the sound of the horn sing joyfully before the King, the Lord. (R)
GOSPEL
John is never threatened by the greatness of Jesus and his own
insignificance in the greater plan of God. If we are threatened by the
greatness of those around us, if we are threatened by others who are
better that us at particulars tasks, let us have the humility to ask why
this is so. Each one of us is gifted by God in different ways, it does
not matter what our gift may be; what matters is if and how we develop
it to the full. We are all members of the Body of Christ, each with our
own gifts to bring.
John 1:29-34
29John the Baptist saw Jesus coming towards him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. 30He is the one of whom I said, ‘A man is coming after me who ranks ahead of me because he existed before me.’ 31I did not know him, but the reason why I came baptizing with water was that he might be made known to Israel.” 32John testified further, saying, “I saw the Spirit come down like a dove from the sky and remain upon him. 33I
did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told
me, ‘On whomever you see the Spirit come down and remain, he is the one
who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34Now I have seen and testified that he is the Son of God.”
REFLECTION
THE POWER OF JESUS’ NAME
Parents
today give their children strange and unique names, names which they
sometimes never use to call their children, or which the children later
don’t like to be called by. How often do nicknames replace the given
name to avoid embarrassing names given at birth?
It was not so in the time of Jesus. A name given to a child expressed
the future task of the child or gave him a program for life. The church,
then and until now, urges Catholic parents to name their child after a
saint so that the life of this saint can become a model for the child’s
life later on.
Mary and Joseph were not free to give Mary’s child any name they
wanted. They had been told to name the child “Yeshua.” Which means “God
saves.” Jesus’ name contains the purpose of His life; to save humankind.
From the Acts of the Apostles, we know that the Apostles first baptized
only in the name of Jesus, They healed in the name of Jesus. No wonder
that Jesus’ name was soon considered not only holy but also powerful.
St. Paul wrote to the Philippians, “At the name of Jesus every knee
should bend, of those in heaven and on earth, and every tongue confess
the Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father” (Philippians
2:10).
When St. Ignatius of Loyola founded a religious congregation, he was so
inspired by the name of Jesus that he called it “Society of Jesus.” We
know what great things the Jesuits have done, and are still doing, for
the Church.
We know that Blessed John Paul II often uttered the phrase, “Praised be
Jesus Christ!” It gave him the strength for his difficult task as pope.
What a pity that so many Christians utter the holy name of Jesus
without reverence, often in moments of anger! How much stronger could we
be in our spiritual life if we could rely more on the power of Jesus’
name and do everything in the name of Jesus – with great reverence? Fr. Rudy Horst, SVD
"Lord, thank You for the power You have given us through Your Most Holy Name. May I use it to shine Your light to others.
Praised be Jesus Christ! May we, who
honor the holy name of Jesus, enjoy His friendship in this life and be
filled with eternal joy in His kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You!"
No comments:
Post a Comment