There is a lot going on in the liturgy for this first day of the year. It’s the civil new year, a world day of prayer for peace, the eighth day and conclusion of the octave of Christmas, and it’s the day Jesus is circumcised and is officially given his name. In today’s homily, I consider especially this last aspect, that of the holy name of Jesus.
To give a name to something is to exercise some degree of power over it. In Genesis, Adam is allowed by God to name each of the animals. If parents call the name of their child, the child knows that they need to come. If someone calls out our name, they gain our attention. There’s a power in knowing and using someone’s name.
Today we reflect on how amazing it is that our God has a name, Jesus, and he lets us use it. When we call on the holy name of Jesus, we get the attention of God himself. He listens to us when we call upon him. In this new year, let us have a great reverence for this name and speak it often in prayer and to all the world as we go forth to evangelize.
As we look back on 2018, let us be careful in the names or labels we apply. We don’t know the end of the story, so no matter what happened last year, let’s be thankful. The Church gives us the tradition of praying the famous Te Deum hymn of thanksgiving at the close of the year. Let’s be thankful for the many blessings of 2018 and invoke the Holy Spirit’s blessing on 2019.