Today, we honor the holy name of Jesus. The Church has a special feast dedicated to this name. The name is holy because it came directly from God. It was given to Our Lady by the angel Gabriel just before she conceived Our Lord in her womb. It was given to St. Joseph by an angel in a dream when he was wondering what he should do about the pregnancy of Our Lady. Our Lady and St. Joseph gave Our Lord the name of Jesus on the day of His circumcision, in obedience to the will of God. The name is one of a role. It indicates both the purpose of Our Lord’s life and who He is. He is one who saves. He is a rescuer. That is what it means to be a savior. In the case of Our Lord, there is no other savior. He is the only rescuer who is able to save us from death. No can bring us to life besides Him. No one is both God and man besides Him. This is why it is an honor for us to serve Him. It is an honor for us to serve the one alone who is the savior of the human race, the one alone who is the God-man. It is an honor for us to defend His name because “there is no other name under Heaven given to men whereby they may be saved”. It is important for us to understand that, without Our Lord, we are lost, whereas with Our Lord, we have true fulfillment in this life and the next. Our Lord teaches us the true meaning of our lives, He teaches us how to live them in order to attain happiness, and He gives us the means to live them that way through His grace in our souls. His teaching contains a paradox that is mysterious but true. He says, “He that finds his life, shall lose it: and he that shall lose his life for me, shall find it.” He says this right after saying, “He that loves father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me; and he that loves son or daughter more than me, is not worthy of me. And he that takes not up his cross, and follows me, is not worthy of me.” (Matt. 10:37) When you serve the noble and true ideal of following Our Lord in this life, and this is the highest ideal possible, you flourish in your life. When, on the other hand, you refuse to serve Our Lord and serve yourself instead, your life is very poor.
