Today the Church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus. The Gospel appointed for this feast is the same as that of the Feast of the Circumcision. It is the shortest Gospel of the entire year, yet it loses nothing by its brevity, for it makes its point swiftly and unmistakably: the Child is named Jesus.

We are blessed to live in a time when this feast is firmly established in the life of the Church, for this was not always the case. There was a time when no Feast of the Holy Name existed at all. St. Bernardine of Siena, the great champion of devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, was summoned to Rome and accused of heresy—not once, but on several occasions—for promoting this devotion. His opponents considered it a dangerous innovation. Imagine such opposition to devotion to the very Name that the Archangel Gabriel commanded both the Blessed Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph to give to the Christ Child.

We do not celebrate just any name today; we celebrate the Most Holy Name of Jesus. This Name is holy because it belongs to the Son of God, the Eternal Word made flesh. It is holy because Gabriel did not speak in his own authority, but as the messenger of the Eternal Father who sent him. It is holy because it is the Name above every other name, for, as Scripture declares, “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This is a Name that must be honored, reverenced, and boldly proclaimed. As St. Bernardine wrote, “The Name of Jesus is the glory of the Church militant, the joy of the Church triumphant, and the hope of the Church suffering.”

Throughout history, countless preachers have proclaimed this Name, saints have died with it upon their lips, and Christians have been tortured and martyred for the Name of Jesus. Yet the Holy Name must be restored anew to every corner of the Church. Too often homilies have become generic, religious instruction has been stripped bare, and even sacred edifices have been scrubbed clean of the Holy Name. St. Bernardine warned us plainly: “Remove the Name of Jesus from preaching, and it loses its fire; remove it from prayer, and it loses its power.”

Let us therefore resolve to call frequently upon the Holy Name of Jesus throughout our days. We must purify our tongues, lest we ever take that Holy Name in vain. Many are rightly offended by vulgar words, yet they should tremble at the misuse of the Name of our dear Savior. As St. Bernardine so beautifully teaches, “Nothing more sweet can be sung, nothing more joyful can be heard, nothing more powerful can be invoked than the Name of Jesus.”

May the Holy Name of Jesus—terror of demons and sweetness to the angels—be praised, adored, and loved by all peoples, in every nation, age, and place. May His most holy Name ever flow from our lips like a sweet fragrance, driving away all evil and drawing down grace upon grace into our souls.