Blessed John Paul II

Jesus was the name given by the angel before Christ’s birth. It was the name by which our Lord was known in His family and among His friends in Nazareth. Exalted by the crowds and invoked by the sick during the years of His public ministry, it calls to mind His identity and mission as Saviour. In fact “Jesus” means “God saves”. A blessed name, which also proved to be a sign of contradiction, it was written on the Cross in justification of His death sentence – “Jesus, King of the Jews”. But this name, in the supreme sacrifice of Golgotha, shone forth as a life-giving name in which God offers the grace of reconciliation and peace to all.

In this name the Church finds her whole good, she invokes it unceasingly; she proclaims it with ever new ardour. It is the divine name which alone brings salvation “for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Jesus Himself shows us the saving power of His name, giving us this consoling certitude: “If you ask anything of the Father, He will give it to you in my name” (John 16:23). Thus whoever calls with faith on the name of Jesus can have an experience similar to the one mentioned by the Evangelist Luke when he remarks that the crowd sought to touch Jesus, “for power came forth from Him and healed them all” (Luke 6:19).

Let us learn lovingly to repeat the Holy Name of Jesus, invoking the name of Jesus with adoring love, putting it at the centre of our prayer. With what motherly tenderness must the Blessed Virgin have pronounced Jesus’ name! In the prayer that the Church addresses to her with the Hail Mary, she is associated with the very blessing of her Son: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus”. Let Mary put on our lips and impress on our hearts this most holy Name from which comes our salvation.

Blessed John Paul II