Invoking Our Savior

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

“Truly, truly, I say to you,” we’re told in St. John, “if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name” (John 16:23).

Our Lord invites us to approach Him in friendship and in trust. In ordinary life, calling a person by their Christian name indicates familiarity.

Ronald Knox says, “It marks a stage, even in casual friendship, when two people begin, without effort and without embarrassment, to call each other by their Christian names.

“And when we fall in love, and all our experience takes on a sharper edge and little things mean so much to us, there is one Christian name in the world which casts a spell over eye or ear when we see it written on the page of a book, or overhear it mentioned in a conversation; we are thrilled by the mere encounter with it. It was this sense of personal romance that St. Bernard invested the Holy Name of Jesus” (Ronald Knox, Sermon on the Divine Name).

There’s a famous movie in the 1950s called West Side Story, and in that, there’s a song called Maria. The words of the song said, “I’ve just met a girl named Maria. How beautiful that sound can be.” It's a song that precisely highlights these ideas that we’re mentioning.

We’re invited to call Our Lord by His first name, Jesus. And in that way, we approach Him with complete confidence.

In The Way, St. Josemaría said, “Don't be afraid to call Our Lord by his name—Jesus—and to tell him that you love him” (Josemaría Escrivá, The Way, Point 303).

We call a friend by their first name. Why not call our greatest Friend by His first name too? His name is Jesus. He has been called this by the angel before He was conceived in His mother's womb: “You shall call his name Jesus” (Luke 1:31).

God Himself gave Him His name through the message of the angel, a name that signified His mission, because Jesus means Savior, He who brings salvation, security, and true peace. It is “the name,” says St. Paul, “which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth” (Phil. 2:9-10).

How trustfully and with how much veneration we should repeat it, especially now when we talk to Him in this time of prayer, telling Him: “Jesus, I need this. Jesus, I would like that. Jesus, solve this other problem.”

Names were of great significance and importance for the Jews. When a name was given to someone, it represented what that person should be in the future. If a person's name is unknown, that person can't be completely known. Not to acknowledge a name meant to destroy a personality and to change a person's destiny. Their name expressed the reality of their being at the deepest level.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church has some of these interesting ideas to say about names, and particularly, Christian names (cf. Catechism, Points 2156, 2158). We’re told in the Prophet Zechariah, “Among all names, the name of God is supremely perfect” (Zech. 14:9).

“It must be blessed,” we’re told in the Psalms, “from this time forth and forevermore, from the rising of the sun to its setting” (Ps. 113:2–3), “for I will sing praise to your name, O Most High” (Ps. 9:2). And in the Our Father, we say: “Hallowed be thy name” (Matt. 6:9).

The Jewish people gave a child his name when he was circumcised. This was the rite instituted by God to single out, by means of an outward sign, those who belonged to the Chosen People. It was the sign of the Covenant that God made with Abraham and his posterity (cf. Gen. 17:10-14), and it was laid down that it should be carried out on the eighth day after birth. All the uncircumcised were automatically excluded from the pact and, therefore, from the people of God.

In fulfillment of this precept, Christ was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2:21), according to the Law. Mary and Joseph fulfilled what had been laid down.

“Christ submitted to circumcision at a time when it was still the law,” says St. Thomas, “and in doing so, gave us an example to imitate, so that we may observe the things laid down by law in our own times” (Thomas, Summa Theologiae, Part III, Question 37; cf. Acts 15:1) and not to look for exemptions or privileges when there is no reason for doing so.

After the circumcision of Jesus, Our Lady and St. Joseph would have said His name for the first time, full of great devotion and love. And that's what we should often do.

St. Paul says to invoke His name is to be saved (cf. Rom. 10:9). To believe in this name is to be counted among the children of God (cf. John 1:12). To pray in the name of Jesus is to be sure of being heard.

We’re told in St. John, “Truly, truly, I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name” (John 16:23).

In the name of Jesus we obtain pardon for our sins (1 John 2:12), and our souls are purified and made whole (cf. 1 Cor. 6:11).

The preaching of this name constitutes the whole essence of apostolate (Acts 8:12). The Second Vatican Council says for He “is the goal of human history, the focal point of the desires of history and civilization, the center of mankind, the joy of all hearts, and the fulfillment of all aspirations” (Vatican II, Gaudium et spes, Point 45, December 7, 1965).

Mankind finds in Jesus what it most needs and thirsts for: salvation, peace, happiness, the forgiveness of sins, freedom, understanding, and friendship. St. Bernard says,

“O Jesus…how consoling you are to those who invoke you!
How good you are to those who seek you!
What will you not be to those who find you!
Only he who has felt it can know what it is
to languish in love for you, O Jesus” (Bernard, Sermons on the Canticles).

When we invoke the name of Jesus, we see ourselves at times like those lepers who cried from far off: “‘Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.’ And Our Lord bids them come near and he cures them, sending them to the priests” (cf. Luke 17:13-14).

Or we could perhaps use the words of the blind man of Jericho: “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” (Luke 18:38), because we too are blind to so many things.

In Friends of God, St. Josemaría says, “Don't you too feel the urge to cry out? You who are also waiting at the wayside of this highway of life that is so very short? You who need more light, you who need more grace to make up your mind to seek holiness? Don't you feel an urgent need to cry out, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!’ What a beautiful aspiration for you to repeat again and again!” (J. Escrivá, Friends of God, Point 195).

When we invoke the holy name of Jesus, many obstacles will disappear and we will be cured of many ailments of the soul which so often afflict us.

St. Bernard again says, “May your name, O Jesus, be always deep within my heart and in reach of my hands, so that all my affections and all my actions may be directed to you. … In your name, O Jesus, I have the remedy to rid me of my wickedness and to turn my defects into perfections; also, a medicine with which to preserve my affections from corruption or to heal them if they have already been corrupted” (Bernard, Sermons on the Canticles).

Aspirations will fan the fire of our love for Our Lord and increase our presence of God throughout the day. At other times, as we gaze at Our Lord God made Child for each one of us, we can trustingly say to Him: Dominus iudex noster, Dominus legifer noster, Dominus rex noster; ipse salvabit nos. Lord, you are my judge. Lord, you are my lawmaker. Lord, you are my King. You will save us” ((Isa. 33:2; Divine Office, Antiphon for the Solemnity of Christ, Universal King). Lord Jesus, in you we trust, in you I trust.

Along with the name of Our Lord, the names of Mary and Joseph should also be on our lips. These were the names that Our Lord must have used most frequently.

With regard to Our Lady, the first Christians gave her name many different meanings: Most Lovable, Star of the Sea, Queen, Princess, Light, Beautiful, and so on.

It was St. Jerome who gave her the title Stella Maris, Star of the Sea, because she is the one who guides us to a safe haven in the midst of all the storms of life (cf. St. Jerome, Liber de Nominibus Hebraicis; Catholic Encyclopedia on The Name of Mary).

We have to frequently have the name of Our Lady on our lips, especially where we are in need or in difficulty. On our way towards God, it's meritable that we'll have to endure certain storms which God permits so as to purify our intentions and to help us grow in the virtues.

It's possible that by paying too much attention to the obstacles on our way, we may yield to discouragement or weariness in our struggle.

Then it is time to turn to Mary, invoking her name to help us. St. Bernard said, “If the winds of temptation rise against you, if you strike against the reefs of temptation, look at the star, call on Mary. If you are tossed by the waves of pride, of ambition, or of envy, look at the star, call on Mary. If anger, greed, or impurity throw themselves violently against the ship of your soul, look at Mary.

“If you are troubled by the memory of your sins, confounded at the ugliness of your conscience, fearful at the thought of judgment, and you start sinking in the bottomless pit of sadness or in the abyss of despair, think of Mary. In danger, in affliction, in doubts, think of Mary, call on Mary.

“Don't let Mary be apart from your tongue, don't withdraw her from your heart; and to obtain her intercession, do not depart from the example of her virtue. You will not go wrong if you follow her,” he says, “and not lose heart if you pray to her; you will not be lost if you think of her.

“If she takes you by the hand, you will not fall; if she protects you, you will never have cause to fear; you will not grow weary if she guides you; you will reach port safely if she aids you” (Bernard of Clairvaux, Homily on the Virgin Mother).

We can invoke her name, especially in the Hail Mary, and in all the other prayers and aspirations that Christian devotion inspired over the centuries, and which perhaps we've learned from our mother's lips.

St. Paul says in the Philippians, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:7–8).

Our life is intimately related to the life of Christ. In the third year of Our Lord's public ministry, when the feast of Pentecost was drawing near, we're told that Our Lord had gone up to Jerusalem on the two previous celebrations to preach the Good News (Luke 18:31, 19:28).

But on this occasion, He seemed reluctant to go to the Holy City. Possibly He wanted to shield His followers from the hostility of His enemies.

He led them instead, we're told by St. Matthew, to the tranquil villages around Caesarea Philippi (cf. Matt. 8:22).

St. Luke says that after praying for some time, the Lord put His famous query to the apostles: “Who do men say that I am?” (cf. Luke 9:18).

With remarkable simplicity, some said, John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others two of the prophets. But Our Lord asked with more insistence, “But who do you say that I am?” (Luke 9:20).

There are many questions in this life which we can safely ignore without consequence. But there are other questions which have a more important relation to ourselves and to our society.

One can think of the dignity of the human person, the ultimate impermanence of temporal things, the fleeting nature of our life on earth. There is still a more momentous question which touches upon the meaning of our existence. It is the question which Christ posed to the apostles at Caesarea Philippi almost twenty centuries ago: “But who do you say that I am?” (Matt. 16:15; Mark 8:29).

There is only one valid answer. “You are the Christ” (Matt. 16:16; Mark 8:29), the Anointed One, the Messiah, the Only-Begotten One of God. He is the person who is of the greatest importance to my destiny, my happiness, my successes and failures in this life and hereafter.

Our happiness is not in our health, in our worldly successes, or our ability to get what we want. All our problems can be solved if we are close to Him. There is no satisfactory solution to any of these problems of ours without reference to Our Lord.

Through the testimony of Peter, the apostles give Jesus their summary of what the two years of being next to Him have meant.

Pope St. John Paul says, “In our case also, in order to make a more conscious profession of faith in Jesus Christ, we must, like Peter, listen attentively and carefully. We must follow in the school of the first disciples who had become His witnesses and our teachers.

“At the same time we must accept the experience and testimony of no less than twenty centuries of history marked by the Master's question and enriched by the immense chorus of responses of the faithful of all times and places” (John Paul II, Address, January 7, 1987).

We should seriously ask ourselves whether Christ has an important place in our hearts. We also can pray with St. Paul: “Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as refuse in order that I may gain Christ” (Phil. 3:7-8).

And so, to imitate Christ is to live His life. After Peter's confession, Jesus revealed to His disciples for the first time that “the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.” St. Mark says, “He said this plainly: (Mark 8:31-32).

These seemed very strange words to those who had witnessed so many marvels: that He “must suffer many things, be rejected by the elders, and be killed.”

Peter took Him to himself and “began to rebuke Him,” we're told. Our Lord addressed Peter in a manner so that everybody might take note: “Get behind me, Satan” (Mark 8:32-33).

Jesus didn't call the Pharisees Satan. He reserved that privilege for Peter.

It was with these same words that Jesus rejected the devil's temptations in the desert (cf. Matt. 4:10). Our Lord will not be held back either by friend or foe in His determination to fulfill the Will of the Father.

We're told in the Prophet Isaiah: “I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I hid not my face from shame and spitting” (Isa. 50:6).

God proved His love for mankind by sending us His Only-Begotten Son, “that we may live through him” (1 John 4:9). With His death He brought us life.

Christ is the only path to the Father. As Jesus said at the Last Supper, “No one comes to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Without Him, we can do nothing (cf. John 15:5).

The primary concern of every Christian ought to be living the life of Christ, to become one with Him as the vine is with the branches. The branch depends upon the vine for its very life. Remove the branch from the vine and it is useless, fit only for the fire (cf. John 15:1-6).

The Christian's goal is to become through grace a child of God. This is the fundamental aim of Christian life: to imitate Jesus, especially in His divine filiation. Christ Himself has told us as much: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:17).

Jesus looks to encourage us in a thousand ways through the circumstances and events of our ordinary lives. He wants successes and failures to bring us closer to Him. There may be many times when we resist that call.

One writer says: “What have I that makes you seek my friendship? What could lead you, O my Jesus, to stand at my door covered with frost through the dark winter nights? Oh, how hard my heart was in not opening its door to you! What strange madness that the cold ice of my ingratitude should dry the wounds of your poor feet! How many times has my Angel told me, 'Soul, look out of your window right now and you'll see how lovingly he keeps knocking!’ And how many times, Sovereign Beauty, I answered, ‘Tomorrow we will open to him,’ only to answer the very same thing the next day!” (Lope de Vega, Sonnet to the Crucified Christ).

We can turn to Jesus and to Mary and to Joseph and invoke their names. Together with Jesus and Mary, there is Joseph.

“If the whole Church is in debt to the Virgin Mary, since it was through her that she received Christ, in the same way she owes to St. Joseph a special gratitude and reverence” (Bernardine of Siena, Sermon 2).

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me now and in my last agony. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you. Amen (Prayer to the Holy Family, Prayer Before Sleep).

Countless millions of Christians have learned these words at their mothers’ knees, and other similar aspirations, which they have later repeated to their dying days. Jesus, may we not forget to have daily recourse many times to this Trinity on earth.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, St. Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

EW