Amen, amen, I say to you,
whatever you ask the Father in my name he will give you.
Until now you have not asked anything in my name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.
"What's the big deal around the name of Jesus?" a Catholic friend of mine asked. Saint Bernadine would have been horrified. And then he would have cited the above passage from Saint John, or any number of other scripture verses.
Even atheists understand that naming friends, family, and acquaintances makes a difference. That's why we meet so many inveterate name-droppers. They'll eagerly tell of any one-time chance encounter with a Very Important Person.
It's not what you know, it's who you know. Americans may claim to build a world by meritocracy with our diplomas, credentials, and experience but names open doors, and references are often more reliable than a ten-page CV. Why do so many work gangs consist of young Mexican men? Because an employer asks, "Have you got any brothers who work as hard as you do?" And, on the other hand, how many solid companies were destroyed when they hired a stranger with impeccable credentials?
The secular atheist does not believe in God and does not factor God's presence, influence, or authority into their world. More often, they believe in fate, karma, or luck, which seem to be real gods, although distant and unsympathetic to human suffering.
We ask the Father in the name of Jesus to go with us whenever we're sent into a difficult situation. We ask God to open doors for us, and often find Christian and Catholic friends wherever we go. There is indeed an expansive network of believers, and we know one another although we've never met. Some strangers have the name of Jesus on their foreheads and we recognize them readily.
More often we ask God in the name of Jesus to empower our words, efforts, and presence because his favor changes things. We'll not get there on time, but we do get there in plenty of time because the Lord made it happen. The odds are against us but everything falls in place the way it should. Young people pray that the Lord will arrange a good match and fifty years later, the great-grandparents thank God for a marriage made in heaven.
Saint Luke describes the Name of Jesus like a kind of sacrament. We must speak of it at home and abroad, whether we are busy or at rest. Like Saint Bernadine of Siena, the great Franciscan preacher, we invoke his Name continually for it opens the gates of heaven to those who are being saved.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.