Deus Donavit Illi Nomen
Super Omnes Nomen
Homily for the Sunday of the Most Holy Name of
Jesus
Quintus autem die Ianuarii MMXIV AD
(Extraordinary
Form-St. Joseph’s in Troy, NY)
Rev. Michael Taylor
For a Child is born unto us, and a son is given to us, and the
government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called, Wonderful,
Counselor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of
Peace.[1]
Back in the day, when priests (a) wore
biretta’s and (b) would sit in choir for masses, you could sometimes tell when
a priest who was preaching wanted to mess with his brother priests. You see, it
was custom that a priest would remove his biretta when the sacred name was
uttered during the homily. So a preacher could very easily keep those in choir
occupied depending on how great a devotion he had to uttering the sacred name.
Many of you might remember a practice of nodding the head when the sacred name
of Christ was uttered. Many a school children would write “JMJ” on the corners
of their papers, invoking the patronage of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, yet not
wanting to write the name out so as to not sacrilege the name. Indeed, it was
for fear of sacrilege that we have the familiar symbol IHS, which are the first
three letters of Christ’s name in Greek, Iota, Heta, and Sigma. Thus it called
to mind the name of Christ without using the fullness of the name.
How differently our disposition seems to the
sacred name these days. When is the last time you heard another deity’s name
taken lightly? When have you ever heard Allah’s name taken in vain? Or Buddha?
Vishnu? Shiva? Yet God and Jesus’ name get taken in vain with a frequency that
is almost dizzying. One thus is forced to ask, why? And it is because
inherently, we understand the truth that there is a power behind a name. That
to invoke a name means to invoke someone’s response. If someone calls out your
name, you’re forced to react to that. It is also the means by which we know a
person. A person is known by a family name, that means something in terms of
origins and relationship. This is why the prohibition of profaning the sacred
name is the second commandment. For the Hebrew people, the number of a
commandment shows the order of importance it was given. Thus the treating of
the Holy Name with veneration was the second most important commandment.[2]
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord
thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the
name of the Lord his God in vain.[3]
When Moses stood upon Mount Horeb in the
presence of God within the bush that was engulfed in flames yet not consumed,
he wanted to know what name to tell the people of Israel. Is this “god”
speaking to him merely the god of this mountain, of this dessert, of a certain
people? What “god” is this? So Moses said
to God: “Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and say to them; the God of
your fathers hath sent me to you. If they should say to me: What is his name?
what shall I say to them?” [4]
The response God gives is not a name and it is certainly not what Moses
expected; God said to Moses: “I AM WHO
AM.” He said: “Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: HE WHO IS, hath
sent me to you.” [5]
This is not a name that exactly roles off the tongue. Yet in Hebrew, the four
letters that were transcribed (without vowels lest anyone be tempted to treat
it casually) become known to as the Tetragrammaton; YHWH, what is sometimes
called Yahweh. So often when you read
the Hebrew scriptures, you’ll see the word Lord written as Lord. This was done to show that the sacred
name had been replaced with Adonai or
Adonai Elohim (meaning “Lord” or “the
Lord our God”). Sometimes even that was
too close to the divinity of God to refer to, so the people would refer to God
as Hashem, “the Name”. Indeed, it was
held that only once a year, the high priest would enter into the Holy of Holies
of the temple, and on this highest feast day, would dare to utter the sacred
name in prayer. A rope would be tied around his waist though, so that if he
entered unworthily thus profaning the sacred name, and God smote him for his
audacity, the people could pull the body out without having to go in after the
fallen priest. Do you start to get the sense that the name of the Lord is a
reality worth treating as sacred?
This sacred name, indeed, any of the titles
of God, was an invocation of God’s presence and power. It was the name of the
Lord that Moses invoked when he beseeched God’s mercy for the stubbornness of
the people of Israel.[6]
It was by the name of the Lord that David conquered Goliath.[7]
It was to the name of the Lord that Solomon dedicated the temple of the Lord be
built.[8]
It was the name of the Lord that Elijah called upon to defeat the prophets of
Ba’al and perform the miracle of fire.[9]
It was the sacred name that Job blessed despite all his many trials and
tribulations.[10]
And it was the promise of salvation for those who call upon the name of the
Lord that the prophets foretold.[11]
And now, God,
who at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers
by the prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom
he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world.[12]
Indeed, one should give pause at the very name of Jesus, in Hebrew Yeshua which means “the salvation of
Yahweh.” So just as Yeshua bar Nun, Joshua the son of Nun, led the people of
Israel through the waters of the Jordan River into the promised land of Canaan,
so now does Yeshua bar Miriam, bar Dau’id, bar Abrohim, bar a’dam, bar Elohim
Adonai, Jesus the Son of Mary, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, the Son of
Man and the Son of God now lead us through the waters of baptism into the true
promised land of eternal life. When you realize the titles that our Lord and
Savior has rightly bestowed upon Him, how can one but feel awe before even
uttering so venerable a name? He is the Author and Perfector of our faith,[13]
the Captain of our Salvation.[14]
He is the first and the last,[15]
the Alpha and the Omega,[16]
the one who was, who is, and is yet to come.[17]
He is the firstborn from the dead,[18]
the firstborn of many brethren,[19]
the firstborn of all creation.[20]
He is the Son of God,[21]
the Lamb of God,[22]
the Holy One of God,[23]
the Great I AM.[24]
And this is the One, who being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself,
becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross! Because of this
God hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above all names: that
at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in the heaven, on earth and under
the earth: and every tongue shall confess, to the Glory of God the Father, that
JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.[25]
[1] Isaiah 9.6
[2] Catechism of
the Catholic Church §2144: “Respect for his name is an expression of the
respect owed to the mystery of God himself and to the whole sacred reality it
evokes. the sense of the sacred is part of the virtue of religion..”
[3] Exodus 20.7; cf. Deuteronomy 5.11
[4] Exodus 3.13
[5] Exodus 3.14
[6] cf. Exodus 34.5-10
[7] cf. I Samuel 17.45
[8] cf. I Kings 5.5
[9] cf. I Kings 18.32
[10] cf. Job 1.21
[11] Joel 2.32: And it shall come to pass, that everyone
that shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved…
[12] Hebrews 1.1-2
[13] Hebrews 12.2
[14] Hebrews 2.10
[15] Revelation 1.17, 2.8
[16] Revelation 22.13
[17] cf. Hebrews 13.8
[18] Revelation 1.5
[19] Romans 8.29
[20] Colossians 1.15
[21] Luke 1.32
[22] John 1.29
[23] Mark 1.24
[24] John 8.58
[25] Philippians 2.6-11
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