Sunday was the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus and this was my sermon. The main thrust of my sermon was that when you use the name of Jesus appropriately, you will attract angels and deflect demons. Inversely, when you use the name of Jesus inappropriately, you will deflect angels and attract demons.
Basically, your entire spiritual environment changes based on how you use the most Holy Name of Jesus.
In that sermon, I forgot to mention what I do when I hear people abuse the Holy Name. Maybe it was providential I forgot to say that part of my talk, because now I can write an article here on it. I’m going to give three different approaches to corrections and reparation that you can make.
Public Correction #1: Say “Praise His Glory.” This is a lightweight correction. For example, you’re on a subway and someone says JC, but not out of praise or petition, not out of thanksgiving or adoration. You can say “Praise His Glory” and/or your can do the Sign of the Cross at the same time. Hopefully, you say it loud enough that they notice. Honestly, when I am feeling weak, this is what I do. But when I’m feeling stronger in the Lord…
Public Correction #2: Say “Hey, that’s my Savior and Yours.” I might then add: “Respect the Holy Name.” Of course, this is more confrontational than the first one, but it also demands an answer from the offender. It has produced various outcomes in my life and I’ll give two examples below:
-About fifteen years ago, a 20 year old in front of me at REI misused JC. I said “That’s my Savior and Yours. Respect the Holy Name.” He said: “Hey, free country man.” Because it was Boulder (and I regret this answer now as it’s a little relativistic, but this was right after ordination) I said to him: “Would you offend a Buddhist who didn’t want you to insult Buddha?” He said “No.” I said, “Then why offend Jesus and those of us who follow Him?” The genius then replied: “Free country, man.”
-Once I was on an airplane and a guy with a tank-top and biceps the size of my thighs sat next to me. He misused the Holy Name as he was joking with another guy next to us. I said “That’s my Savior and Yours.” He started laughing because he thought I wanted to be part of their silly conversation. Then he realized I had just corrected him. He said “What?” By now, I was a little nervous because I just stood up to a weightlifter with no where to go. But I gulped and added: “That’s the name of our Savior. Use it well.” To my shock, the big guy hung his head and said, “You’re right, man. I’m a Christian and I shouldn’t talk like that.”
The second one obviously went better than the first, but 90% of the people respond positively in my experience.
Of course, if you say “That’s my Savior and Yours” as a correction to someone at home or in the office or in public, you have to be ready for the offender to say something back to you like, “That’s your Savior, but not mine.” However, now you have the perfect opportunity to share the Gospel and save a soul! Like the old phrase goes, “Either Jesus is Lord of all, or not Lord at all.”
I should also add at this part in my article that I pick my battles on verbal corrections. Unless someone is using the F-word around children, I almost never correct other bad words in public. I’m not the manners-police, even as a priest. But the Holy Name of Jesus and Mary demand that we defend them immediately, and make reparation. I don’t write “immediately” just to sound like a tough guy. I say “immediately” because I know if I don’t act quickly, I will chicken-out.
Finally, what happens if you hear the Holy Name misused on TV or on streaming at home? First of all, my suggestion is to make sure such blasphemy never crosses the airwaves of your home again. I explain the importance of this in my sermon linked above. But if it does occasionally happen…
Private reparation #1: Say the Divine Praises.
That is, stop the streaming. Do the sign of the cross with your family, and make reparation for blasphemy coming into your home by saying the Divine Praises together:
Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints. Amen.
Happy Epiphany. Please enjoy my Epiphany sermon here.