The Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus | Tuesday 3 January 2023

Today is Tuesday the 3rd of January, the feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus.

The monks of Glenstal Abbey sing Cantate Domino, a psalm of praise: ‘Sing to the Lord, alleluia. Sing to the Lord, bless his name, tell of his salvation from day to day, alleluia. Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.’

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 2:21-24

After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. When the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male shall be designated as holy to the Lord”), and they offered a sacrifice according to what is stated in the law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”

What’s your name? Do you know why you were given it, or where it came from? What does your name mean to you?

Joseph and Mary give their child the name Jesus. Elsewhere in the gospels, we’re told that this name means “the one who saves”. What is there that you would want Jesus to save you from?


Other names and titles were applied to Jesus during the course of his life: Emmanuel, Messiah, the Son of Man, and others. What’s your preferred way of addressing Jesus in prayer?

As you listen again, notice how, according to Luke, Jesus is being treated just as any other first-born Jewish male would have been.

Talk for a moment to Jesus, using whatever name for him you prefer, about what you have noticed in this time of prayer.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.