The Name that Crowns the Year
“Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
The Holy Family as imagined by Palestinian artist Maher Naji for the Friends of Sabeel North America Christian Appeal. We remember, as Christmas deepens, the Word made Flesh in the midst of this world that is at once broken and beautiful. The world he came into was not unlike our own, a land of “darkness, and the shadow of death;” where jealous kings slaughter infants to protect their power, and magistrates move to eliminate everyone who would threaten the stability of imperial power, and sin and destruction seems to prevail, in spite of the structures of law, society, and family put in place to give it order. Our Savior enters fully into this dark world: his presence among us a transfiguring flame of wonder, and we consider his coming with joy and hope …
Out of the mouth of babes and infants you have ordained strength, because of your enemies, that you might still the enemy and the avenger.
— Psalm 8:2
Feast of the Circumcision / Second Sunday after Christmas
Texts for this Week
Prayer
Almighty God, your blessed Son fulfilled the covenant of circumcision for our sake, and was given the Name that is above every name: Give us grace faithfully to bear his Name, and to worship him with pure hearts according to the New Covenant; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
At the Name of Jesus
Hymnographer Caroline Noel managed to avoid publishing any of her poetry until later life, when, having suffered from chronic illness that left her bedridden for decades, she collected her verses for publication with the aim of sharing the encouragement she had garnished from them in her years of incapacitation. This is her poem for Ascension Day, although Noel’s particular devotion to the Name — proper for this Feast — is reflected in the title of the volume: The Name of Jesus, and Other Poems for the Sick and Lonely.
One Name alone in all this death-struck earth,
One Name alone come down from highest heaven,
Whence healing and salvation we receive,
To sinful man is given.
Her words are here ably sung by Cardiff Festival Choir to the regal and majestic Vaughn Williams tune, KINGS WESTON.
