nor is there any other name under heaven
given to the human race by which we are to be saved.
Thank you, LORD, for teaching us your name. Thank you for inviting us to call upon you. It is better to take refuge in you than in man or princes. The paralytic walks now. Princes couldn't help. But your name has that power.
Your name is not revealed to us to exclude anyone. Indeed you promise that you reject no one who comes to. Your name is love which the Father bestows on us in order to make us his children. Your name reveals God to us. It reveals the truth of who you are in such a way that we are transformed. It is the source of healing because you are the one who pours the Spirit out upon us. Even though your name is rejected by builders it is the only cornerstone which can bear the wait of the coming kingdom.
It is your name, Jesus, thats has the power to save. In your name we discover the good shepherd who lays his life down for us. You have concern for us and do not abandon us to wolves. You know us and you reveal your name and your voice to us that we might know you.
You want to bring us all together as one flock under one shepherd. We must know the name of the shepherd for this to work. But even if we know it you are not done revealing yourself to us yet. You want to help us to treasure your name more. There is still more untaped power in your name. If we open ourselves to it we can be even more transformed.
We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,
for we shall see him as he is.
Your name reveals this to us. It transforms us to be more like you. It lets us recognize you and enjoy the unity, peace, and joy that come from following you. Your name fills us with the Holy Spirit just as it does Peter when he proclaims your name in the first reading.
Jesus.
Let your name be our mantra, ever on our lips.
Jesus.
Let your name be our prayer.
Jesus.
When we speak your name you become present. You reveal yourself. You transform us.
O Jesus, help us to share in your desire that there be only one flock and one shepherd. Help us to appreciate what it means that there is no other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved. Without your name we are divided. Without your name our efforts collapse. And without your name we are ultimately lost. This is possible even though you reject no one. This is possible even though you desire all men to be saved. This is the result of not appreciating what we have in your name.
O Jesus, our love, our prayer, our only hope: teach us to love your name. Reveal yourself to us!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD;
we bless you from the house of the LORD.
I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me
and have been my savior.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
for his kindness endures forever.
No comments:
Post a Comment