A Homily for the feast of the Holy Name

+ Healing the beggar at the door of the Temple was by no means a reason for St Peter to be arrested, yet this is the excuse made for so doing. Excuses are always easy to make for what we do, but ought not, or even ought not but nonetheless do. Looking at the reality of the act, however, is never easy. St Peter refuses to leave any lack of clarity: it is for the confession of Christ that he is being arrested. And he rejoices to have this new and greater opportunity to witness to the power of the name of Jesus Christ—the only name by which we can be saved.

Whilst the sacred liturgy presents the Holy name as given to Jesus at His circumcision according to the promise given to Abraham, it should not be separated from the name of the Holy Trinity in Whose threefold names we have been baptised. In calling upon the name of Jesus we are at once invoking the entire mystery of the Incarnation whereby God took unto Himself human nature in order to break the chains of sin. Only by accepting our weakness and incapacity to live alone in the freedom of virtue can we accept the healing which Christ offers us.

The persecution of Christ continues. No unrepentant sinner can bear the sound of the name which has the power to cure him, and so will find any excuse to villainise that which comes from Christ so as to keep him away. But there is another method also heavily drawn upon to assure that the healing power of Christ is neutralised: the obfuscation of the fact that no other name can save us, neither from ourselves, nor unto eternal life. No other name allows the damage of sin to be addressed. For this is the power of calling on the name of Christ. In Christ we can confront our sin and be wiped clean. Through the confessional we can be brought to the renewed life of virtue which we are created to enjoy.

Before the Incarnation of Christ, the Name of God, as given to Moses, was unspeakable due to its sanctity and the distance between God and man. Through the Incarnation, however, this gap was closed as God Himself accepted our nature. As He hung on the cross the notice above our Lord reading, “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews” spelt out the unspeakable name given to Moses and covered it with the divine title “Lord”. In Christ Jesus is the full name of God is revealed. Herein is the truth of that statement of St Peter that no other name can save.

By calling upon the name of Jesus we are calling upon His entire person. The collect of this Mass draws out the connection between venerating the name and vision of Him in heaven, which we contemplate, and the reason for our creation by God. Yet this contemplation receives its greatest impetus from a close living of the rites of the Church—especially in the Mass and the Divine Office. Indeed, we are brought into this contemplation by God who has the power to transform our lowliness if we but allow Him. And before God there can be no excuses because He knows exactly what is in our heart.

Whilst confessing the name of Christ may not be easy, it is what we are always required to do if we wish to be saved. +