45. Second Sunday after Christmas

Meditations no. 40 (unofficial computer-aided translation)

The power of Jesus’ Name.

And at the end of eight days … he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. Jesus, perfect God and perfect man, was circumcised like any of Abraham’s sons, and was called Jesus as the true Son of God. The meaning of Jesus’ name - God and Saviour - expresses the mission and power of the Child we contemplate in Mary’s arms. It is only right that we should pronounce that name with veneration and gratitude since, as St Paul reminds us: You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Invoking the name of Jesus ensures the fruitfulness of our apostolic action. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that, after Pentecost, Peter and John went to the Temple one day to pray. There they found a man lame from birth, begging. Peter directed his gaze at him, with John, and said, “Look at us.” And he fixed his attention upon them, expecting to receive something from them. But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but I give you what I have; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up; and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. And leaping up he stood and walked and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God.

When we invoke the name of his Son, we remind God that we want to take advantage of all the merits of Jesus’ Passion and Death. On many occasions we will have to say: Iesu, praeceptor, miserere nostri - Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. Or we will repeat the words of the blind man at Jericho: Iesu, fili David, miserere mei - Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me. We should do so confidently. For by the strength of this Name we will overcome temptations and obstacles, and once again we will see wonders of grace worked in souls. Christ himself assured the Apostles: If you ask anything of the Father, he will give it to you in my name. St Paul insists: Whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. And St Peter teaches: There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.

Our contemplative life: a continuous dialogue with Jesus.

When we invoke Jesus’ Name we are already speaking to him. Our invocation is not a cry that goes unheard. It is the beginning of a dialogue with our Lord that awakens contemplative life. It is the eternal dialogue, which all lovers have engaged in on earth. God has a right to ask us: Do you think of me? Do you remember that I am with you? Are you aware of my presence? Do you look for me as your support? Do you seek me as the light of your life, as your strength, as your protection, as your all? In times which worldly people call good, cry out: “Lord!” And in times they call bad, cry out: “Lord!” Then peace will come, together with a tender loving dialogue.

Our contemplative life is nothing other than a dialogue, a continuous conversation with Jesus. In the stable at Bethlehem this Christmas, we have the help of Joseph and Mary to get much closer to Jesus. We can utter his Name many times in the intimacy of our hearts, and in our thoughts we can go up to the manger and sing a silent song to the new-born Babe.

In the breviary, our Father tells us, we priests have two very beautiful prayers to St Joseph for before and after Mass. You may already know them. They are words of praise to the holy Patriarch. One of them, translated a bit loosely, says: Happy are you because it was granted you not only to see and hear God, but also to embrace him, kiss him, clothe him and care for him. The Church is envious of Joseph and praises him, because to men he was the father of God, the father of the Son of God, who deigned to become his son.

We go to St Joseph to learn from him how to call Jesus by name. How good Joseph is! He treats me as a father would. He even forgives me if I take the infant in my arms and spend hour after hour saying sweet and loving things to him!

And I kiss him. You kiss him too! And I rock him in my arms and sing to him. And I call him king, love, my God, my only one, my all…

We should never feel lonely or cut off from God, trying to find solutions or work things out on our own. We should direct everything to God, everything that concerns us. We will see things from his point of view and talk to him trustingly about them. Everything, from the most extraordinary things to the most ordinary, can be a topic of conversation with Jesus, as between two people who love each other, live close together and understand each other perfectly. The fruit of our dialogue with God is love, and a greater likeness to him each day. In intentions, may Jesus be our aim; in affections, our Love; in conversation, our theme; in actions, our model.

An aspiration that helps us increase our friendship with our Lord: Iesu, Iesu, esto mihi semper Iesus.

Lord, you came to be the true vine, bearing for us the fruit of life. Make us branches of the vine, bearing fruit in you.

We should try to achieve an ever more constant and trusting relationship with the Sacred Humanity of Jesus. This we do by increasing our dialogue with Jesus, so that his most sweet Name may constantly speak to us and be more filled with meaning for us.

During these days we centre our lives around the stable at Bethlehem. Everything invites us to come closer to the Child who is God, to open our hearts to him, and to tell him that we love him.

My children, you and I have reached Bethlehem and have drawn near the Baby. We have cradled him in our arms and said many loving things to him. We have pressed him close to our hearts… I’m not speaking of childish things. I’m speaking of love. And love is expressed in deeds. In the intimacy of your souls you really can embrace him.

Our Founder taught us an aspiration which we can say frequently during this season - and during the rest of our lives - and which will make it much easier for us to achieve that tender, intimate dialogue with the Master: Iesu, Iesu, esto mihi semper Iesus! Jesus, Jesus, always be Jesus for me! If we say it devoutly it will help us come to the point where He will always be Jesus for us, the same Jesus who called us, and for whose sake we have given up everything to follow his way. It will ensure that our hearts never become hardened, and that our eyes never become so dimmed that instead of Jesus we see only a task to be performed, a job to be done, duties to be fulfilled, or even a mere rule of life. When we invoke Jesus with this aspiration which our Father taught us, we will find that we never lose that sense of friendship, or our pleasant and intimate conversation with him. Then Jesus will always be our Life, our Love, and our Way.

Don’t be afraid to call our Lord by his name -Jesus - and to tell him that you love him. Let us ask the most holy Virgin to teach us to pronounce the Name of Jesus with the same tenderness and confidence as she did.