The picture is the coat of arms of the Society of Jesus, a fitting photo for the day when the Church honors the holy name of Jesus.While John the Baptist continues as the main actor in today gospel reading, he would not want anyone to overlook his mission: to bring others to Jesus. His mission is very much like our own today. John was willing to give even his life for Jesus and his role. John knew from his very beginning that this man was the holy one of God, the Messiah, long-awaited in the land of the Jewish peoples.
Without using the phrase, "In the name of Jesus," John was preaching to make us ready to receive even more than the "name." He was introducing us to the Son of God.
Joseph was told he would be the foster father of a child that was to be named Jesus. Shortly after the death of Jesus and his resurrection, Peter and his band of Christ-followers set out on their missions, preaching and healing in the name of Jesus. In those early days of our Church, the name of Jesus was the primary source for all the work of the apostles. Recall how Peter would heal and say that his actions and the results were not his at all but rather the actions of Jesus.
We should not forget at this time these words from St. John's gospel: "If you ask anything of me in my name I will do it" (John 14:13). Do we stop to think about these words of Jesus? We pray to him ... but do we think about the significance and the sacredness of his name?
Remember, gentleman of some years, the Holy Name Society? Stand at a bar or a sporting event these days. What do you hear along with a string of expressions that seem to absolutely need the "F" word: it is the sacrilegious misuse of the holy name of Jesus. And so often, don't we just accept that as an ordinary adjective, noun or expletive --- forgetting that it is a name of God.
Can even begin to imagine the reaction of John the Baptist were he in such a situation today? John believed so much in Jesus as the Son of God and in that belief he found happiness. Perhaps we might consider this: does the misuse of the name of Jesus or other expletives with the name of God signify a latent self-centeredness, a place where there really is no joy?
