The Best Names

Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord–Vigil Mass

Hopefully we all know that it is not kind to call people mean things.  We each have our own, beautiful names, which were chosen by our parents, and by which the Church has called all of us when we were baptized, when we were confirmed; when we were married or ordained.  And the Church will even call our name when we die.  Our names are important parts of who we are; in some ways they express who we are.  It is not kind to call people mean things instead of their name, things like: booger, stupid, stinky, or even Hey You.  

In our first reading, God talks about the name he will call Israel.  It will no longer be mean things, like “Forsaken,” or “Desolate.”  Those are mean things, things which mean there is no life, no people, and that no one loves them.  Instead, God says, Israel “shall be called ‘My Delight,’ and [its] land ‘Espoused.’”  God says that He will refer to Israel like a husband refers to his wife.  Today we might heard, “My love,” “Dear,” “Honey,” or some other sweet, kind names.

When a person call us a mean thing, it hurts us.  If it’s really mean, we might even cry.  When someone says something mean to us it makes us think that we’re not good, that the other person doesn’t like us, and that we’re alone.  But, when someone calls us by our name, or even by a kind thing, we feel great, we feel like others want us around, and we feel like we’re loved.

This evening we are in vigil.  That’s a fancy way of saying that we’re waiting.  When we began Mass at 4, it wasn’t even dark out!  It’s so early to be celebrating Christmas!  But we come to Mass because we are waiting, not for someone to come down a chimney, but to celebrate the birth of Jesus.  We are waiting and watching, trying to imagine what it was like for the Jews to wait for their Messiah to come to them, which happened when Jesus was born.  We wait, and the waiting gives us a kind of excitement, because we really want our waiting to be over, and for Christmas to be here!

But we should also be excited because of the name of the Person who is born at Christmas.  He kind of has two names.  The first name we hear a lot, hopefully when we’re praying and coming to Mass, not when someone is mad: that name is Jesus.  Jesus’ Name has a special meaning.  It means, “God saves.”  That’s a good name, because we know that we don’t always do what we’re supposed to; we don’t always make good choices.  Jesus, who is God, saves us from sin and death.  And that’s a beautiful name which gives us hope and love and should make us feel good.  And that’s the name that St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary gave to the little child that was born on Christmas.

But the angel also told Joseph about a second name for Jesus, a name that we don’t hear as often.  And that name is Emmanuel, which means God is with us.  That’s a beautiful name, too, because that name reminds us that we are never alone, and we always have someone who loves us.  That someone is God.  He loves us so much that He never wants to be separated from us.  He wants to be with us so much, that He sends His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, who lives just like us, but who never sins.  

We each have our own beautiful name by which we are known.  Maybe it’s Anthony, like me, or maybe Joseph, like the patron saint of this church building, or maybe it’s a different beautiful name.  But as we keep vigil, as we wait and watch for Jesus, we remember that God gave us someone with the most beautiful names ever, because they remind us how much God loves us and wants us to be with Him always.  That someone is Jesus, Emmanuel, who saves us and who is with us always.  And those are the best names of all.