Before Our Lord was born, an Angel had given
instructions to St. Joseph that His Name was to be
called JESUS. It was St. Joseph, not Our Lady, who
was first to pronounce the name of the Son of God.
The jurisdiction he thus exercised was a
declaration of his authority. When God brought the
animals to Adam to be named, He thus declared
him their master. So when He gave to Joseph the
office of naming the Infant in his arms. He declared
him the constituted ruler of his God. O wondrous
privilege! What must have been the sanctity
of one to whom such an office was assigned!
The name that St. Joseph gave to his infant
Son was Jesus, the Savior--not Emmanuel, or Christ.
Christ is the official name of the Son of God in
virtue of His Human Nature; He was anointed as
Man with the Holy Spirit. Emmanuel, or God
with us, proclaims His Divinity; but Jesus, or
Savior, declares at the same time His Human
Nature and Divine Personality. As our Savior He
must be both God and Man--man to pay the price
of our redemption, God that the price may be one
that can satisfy the Eternal Father.
What must have been the sweetness which
filled St. Joseph's heart as he first breathed that
Sacred Name! If to others it was as honey in
their mouth, to St. Joseph it was as nectar and
ambrosia, containing in itself all possible sweetness. None save the Holy Mother felt such joy as
St. Joseph in pronouncing the Holy Name. Yet
how little I love and revere it. How seldom I
repeat it, and with what coldness and indifference.
My Jesus, mercy! May I love Thee ever more
and more!