A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
In the newer Church calendar, we're back in "Ordinary" time. How I dislike that word! Yes, I know it's meaning is not "everyday." It's got to do with "order." But still, I wonder who decided on the use of such a term!
Contrast with the traditional calendar, where these Sundays after the Christmas Season reference the Epiphany. The effect was and is to remind us of this important and glorious feast day, rather than leave it in the dust as occurs in the newer calendar. Thus today is the Second Sunday after the Epiphany.
In addition to it being the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, certain calendars observe the Holy Name of Jesus on this day. (The feast has a remarkably rich, moveable history to it.)
Today, we've chosen to reference the feast of the Holy Name, no matter the day the calendar you follow has observed it. We'll see how this holy feast provides and has provided comfort to our family, specifically in light of the terrible event that struck our family before Christmas, culminating on January 2nd, which - for some calendars, is the day the feast was observed. Got all that? Okay, let's proceed.
Throughout our family's ordeal, as we watched our suffering son, the name of Jesus became a primary source of comfort. I can't describe this any better than this passage from The Inner Life of the Soul. But first, please, PLEASE, if you have ever used, or are tempted to use His Name in a vulgar or vain manner, read these passages carefully. And don't EVER do so again.
"How this name has been loved! Think how Joseph and Mary used to say it, and the air in the holy home at Nazareth was more delicious than the bowers of Eden with the fragrance of the word. Think how the men and women and children in Nazareth called our Divine Lord 'Jesus,' while angels listened in awestruck reverence, seeing Him numbered thus among the sons of the human race...
'My Jesus, Thou glory of the angels,' writes a holy Benedictine abbess, five hundred years ago, 'Thou art sweet music to the ear, sweetest honey to the mouth, heavenly nectar to the heart! They that taste Thee, still hunger after Thee; they that drink, still thirst to drink; they know not what to desire save the Jesus whom they love. O Jesus, my sweetest Jesus! Hope of this panting heart! these tears of love, this cry of my innermost soul, both ask Thee to be mine. Abide with us, O Lord, and illumine us with light; drive darkness from our souls, and fill the world with Thy sweetness.'"
By the grace of God, I have never used, nor have I even been tempted to use, Our Lord's Holy Name in vain. Every time I hear people say "Jesus Christ" when they're frustrated or angry, or whatever, I cringe and say a prayer of reparation. This I was taught, and it has always remained deeply ingrained. You don't even have to be especially holy or spiritually advanced (I'm certainly neither) to develop this practice and stick to it. Just re-read those passages and even imagine you're going to EVER speak Our Lord's name in any but the most reverent, tender, loving way.
And if for some reason you're not sure how to pronounce, or how to use the Name of Jesus in the course of your day, St. Bernard of Clairvaux's words will help:
"When I pronounce this name, I bring before my mind the Man Who, by excellence, is meek and humble of heart, benign, chaste, merciful, and filled with every thing that is good and holy; nay, Who is the very God Almighty - Whose example heals me, and Whose assistance strengthens me. I say all this when I say Jesus. Here have I my model, for He is Man; and my help, for He is God...it is wholesome and good for every ailment that thou canst possibly have. Ever have it with thee, in thy bosom and in thy hand; so that all thy affections and actions may be directed to Jesus."
You can, I hope, see why this Most Holy Name of Jesus was on my lips and in my heart throughout those recent terrible days, and continue to be in the aftermath. And you will, I hope, always keep this Most Holy Name precious in your heart and on your lips.
Contrast with the traditional calendar, where these Sundays after the Christmas Season reference the Epiphany. The effect was and is to remind us of this important and glorious feast day, rather than leave it in the dust as occurs in the newer calendar. Thus today is the Second Sunday after the Epiphany.
In addition to it being the Second Sunday after the Epiphany, certain calendars observe the Holy Name of Jesus on this day. (The feast has a remarkably rich, moveable history to it.)
Today, we've chosen to reference the feast of the Holy Name, no matter the day the calendar you follow has observed it. We'll see how this holy feast provides and has provided comfort to our family, specifically in light of the terrible event that struck our family before Christmas, culminating on January 2nd, which - for some calendars, is the day the feast was observed. Got all that? Okay, let's proceed.
Throughout our family's ordeal, as we watched our suffering son, the name of Jesus became a primary source of comfort. I can't describe this any better than this passage from The Inner Life of the Soul. But first, please, PLEASE, if you have ever used, or are tempted to use His Name in a vulgar or vain manner, read these passages carefully. And don't EVER do so again.
"How this name has been loved! Think how Joseph and Mary used to say it, and the air in the holy home at Nazareth was more delicious than the bowers of Eden with the fragrance of the word. Think how the men and women and children in Nazareth called our Divine Lord 'Jesus,' while angels listened in awestruck reverence, seeing Him numbered thus among the sons of the human race...
'My Jesus, Thou glory of the angels,' writes a holy Benedictine abbess, five hundred years ago, 'Thou art sweet music to the ear, sweetest honey to the mouth, heavenly nectar to the heart! They that taste Thee, still hunger after Thee; they that drink, still thirst to drink; they know not what to desire save the Jesus whom they love. O Jesus, my sweetest Jesus! Hope of this panting heart! these tears of love, this cry of my innermost soul, both ask Thee to be mine. Abide with us, O Lord, and illumine us with light; drive darkness from our souls, and fill the world with Thy sweetness.'"
By the grace of God, I have never used, nor have I even been tempted to use, Our Lord's Holy Name in vain. Every time I hear people say "Jesus Christ" when they're frustrated or angry, or whatever, I cringe and say a prayer of reparation. This I was taught, and it has always remained deeply ingrained. You don't even have to be especially holy or spiritually advanced (I'm certainly neither) to develop this practice and stick to it. Just re-read those passages and even imagine you're going to EVER speak Our Lord's name in any but the most reverent, tender, loving way.
And if for some reason you're not sure how to pronounce, or how to use the Name of Jesus in the course of your day, St. Bernard of Clairvaux's words will help:
"When I pronounce this name, I bring before my mind the Man Who, by excellence, is meek and humble of heart, benign, chaste, merciful, and filled with every thing that is good and holy; nay, Who is the very God Almighty - Whose example heals me, and Whose assistance strengthens me. I say all this when I say Jesus. Here have I my model, for He is Man; and my help, for He is God...it is wholesome and good for every ailment that thou canst possibly have. Ever have it with thee, in thy bosom and in thy hand; so that all thy affections and actions may be directed to Jesus."
You can, I hope, see why this Most Holy Name of Jesus was on my lips and in my heart throughout those recent terrible days, and continue to be in the aftermath. And you will, I hope, always keep this Most Holy Name precious in your heart and on your lips.
Happy Sunday!
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