Scripture Readings: Acts 4:8–12; Luke 2:21
Title: “There is no other name under heaven”
On this glorious feast of the Sanctissimi Nominis Jesu, Holy Church draws our hearts and minds to the power, the majesty, and the saving grace found in the Name of Jesus. The liturgy today invites us to meditate on Acts 4:8–12, where St. Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, proclaims with apostolic clarity:
“There is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
And in the Gospel (Luke 2:21), we are taken to that sacred moment, eight days after the Nativity, when the Holy Child was circumcised according to the Law and given the Name revealed by the angel before His conception:
“His Name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” (Luke 2:21)
These two passages—one from the early proclamation of the Apostles, the other from the hidden life of the Word made Flesh—converge in a single truth: the Name of Jesus is salvation. It is not a mere appellation, but a divine revelation, a sacrament in sound, a summary of the entire mystery of Redemption.
The Name of Jesus: Declared in Time, Foreordained in Eternity
St. Bernard of Clairvaux, the mellifluous Doctor of the Church, speaks of the Most Holy Name with ineffable tenderness:
“The Name of Jesus is light, and food, and medicine… it is honey in the mouth, music to the ear, and a shout of joy in the heart.” (Sermon 15 on the Song of Songs)
In the Name “Jesus” (Iesus from the Hebrew Yehoshua or Yeshua)—“Yahweh saves”—is hidden both the identity and mission of the Incarnate Word. Before the Child is even born, the angelic command to name Him “Jesus” (cf. Luke 1:31; Matthew 1:21) proclaims what He comes to do: “He shall save His people from their sins.”
St. Peter, preaching before the rulers of the people and the elders in Acts 4, stands as a fearless witness to this truth. The context is dramatic: the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the Temple has drawn the ire of the Sanhedrin. Peter does not merely say that Jesus worked the miracle, but that only in His Name is salvation found. As St. John Chrysostom remarks:
“See how many are the benefits of the Name of Christ. It has made men strong, it has made the sick whole, it has raised the dead; and, what is far greater, it has made sinners righteous…” (Homily 10 on Acts)
The Power of the Name
The early Christians lived and died with this Name upon their lips. In times of persecution, they whispered it as a final prayer. In the midst of temptation, they invoked it as a shield. As St. Gregory of Nazianzus taught:
“Jesus is the Name above every name… Let us rather keep to this Name, Jesus, as a light to guide us, a cloak to cover us, and a glory to exalt us forever.” (Oration 42)
The Council of Lyons (1274) and later the Council of Trent would reaffirm the Catholic devotion to the Name of Jesus, but it was especially through the preaching of St. Bernardine of Siena and the Franciscan reformers that the holy Name came to be venerated with a renewed fervor in the life of the Church. The Holy Name was placed upon homes, churches, and even public squares—proclaimed to be our banner in battle and our peace in death.
In fact, the great Dominican Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, explains that devotion to the Name of Jesus is not mere sentimentality but a manifestation of true faith:
“The Name of Jesus signifies the Person who is the God-Man, who has saved us. To invoke this Name with reverence is to confess the Incarnation and Redemption.” (STh III, q. 43, a. 5)
A Name Given in Humility, Glorified in Majesty
And yet, we return to the mystery of Luke 2:21—the first time this Name is spoken over the Son of God on earth. It happens not in a grand public setting, but in silence and obedience, at His Circumcision. The very first shedding of His Precious Blood is tied to the giving of His Name.
This is no coincidence. As Pope St. Leo the Great teaches:
“He receives the Name of Jesus at the time when He is circumcised, so that the name and the blood may both declare that He has come in the likeness of sinful flesh, not to destroy the law but to fulfill it.” (Sermon 33)
The Name is revealed in humiliation, but it will one day be glorified above all. For as St. Paul says:
“At the Name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.” (Philippians 2:10)
Living the Devotion
On this feast, the Church invites the faithful to not only venerate but to invoke and live by the Holy Name. In a world marked by the profanation of speech and the blaspheming of sacred things, how necessary it is to defend and revere the Name which alone saves.
Let us, then, recover the ancient practice of bowing the head at the Holy Name, speaking it with affection, and carrying it upon our hearts. Let us make acts of reparation for the times it has been uttered irreverently or used in vain.
As St. Anselm prayed:
“Jesus, sweet above all names, Jesus, glory of the angels, Jesus, melody of the highest heavens, Jesus, the hope of sinners, have mercy upon me.”
Conclusion
The Name of Jesus is no mere sound—it is a wellspring of grace. As the Entrance Antiphon of the Mass today proclaims from Philippians: “In the Name of Jesus let every knee bow.” In this Name, the saints found courage, the martyrs found strength, and sinners found mercy.
Let us honor it, love it, proclaim it. And above all, let us live so that this Name may be glorified in us—now, and in eternity.
Jesu, dulcis memoria – may Thy Name be ever in our hearts and on our lips.