4th Sunday of Advent [A]
December 18, 2022
Matthew 1:18-24<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To name and to have a name is unique to human beings. To name someone or something is not just a sign of intellectual capacity, but it is also an exercise of authority. When you name someone, in certain way, the person is under your influence. When someone calls our names, immediately and automatically, our attention is drawn to the caller. Surely, we have the choice to set aside this call, but the closer that person to us, the harder it gets to ignore the call. When my mother calls me, my body instinctively moves towards her and listen to what she has to say. That\u2019s how powerful my mother is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The power of naming belongs primarily to God. In the story of creation, when God named something, it came to existence. When He said, \u2018light\u2019, the light came to being. Since God named all creations and brought them into existence, He has the absolute authority over all creatures. Yet, in His providence, God shared this power of naming to men and women. As the authority was shared to humans, they also possessed authority over other creatures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, this power is not absolute. Human persons cannot name something beyond them, like angels and surely, God Himself. Thus, to name God is one of the most elusive things in the Old Testament. The patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob have attempted to ask His name, but they failed. The closest one is Moses when he asked the name of the Lord in Sinai, and the Lord answered, \u201cI am who I am\u201d (Exo 3:14). It is like saying, \u2018none of your business\u2019. God Himself put as a second commandment, \u201cYou shall not take My name in vain.\u201d (see Exo 20). Thus, when the Israelites read the Bible and discovered the holy name of God \u2018\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5\u05d4\u2019, they would prefer to pronounce \u2018Adonai\u2019 (my Lord) or \u2018ha-Sem\u2019 (the name). Even, the pronunciation \u2018Yahweh\u2019 is an interpretation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, as we begin the story of the New Testament, something unexpectedly happened. Joseph and Mary were given the authority to name not just any creature, not just any man, not just any baby. They were to name God-become-flesh, the Creator Himself. They shall name Him Jesus, because \u2018He will save His people\u2019. Indeed, the name Jesus is related to the Hebrew word, \u201c\u05d9\u05b0\u05e9\u05c1\u05d5\u05bc\u05e2\u05b8\u05d4\u201d (roughly: yesuah), meaning \u2018salvation or victory\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The naming of Jesus becomes the breakthrough between God and humans. God does not only want men and women to participate in the work of creation and the authority over lower creatures, but God wishes that we take part in the work of salvation. The former is at the natural level, but the latter is supernatural. As God shared to Joseph and Mary the task to name Jesus, our salvation, so also, Jesus shared to His Church is to name the grace that brings redemption.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When a man and a woman promise fidelity and totality to each other in the name of the Lord, God himself binds them until death, and grace of holiness flows in their marriage and family. When a priest offers the mass, and says the words of consecration, the bread and the wine become the real body and blood of Jesus, and God is truly present among us (Emmanuel). When a priest pronounces the words of absolution, and the penitent is truly asking God\u2019s mercy, the forgiveness of sin takes place. When parents bless their children in the name of the Lord, God\u2019s blessing remains with the children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rome
Valentinus Bayuhadi Ruseno, OP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
4th Sunday of Advent [A]
\nDecember 18, 2022
\nMatthew 1:18-24<\/p>\n
To name and to have a name is unique to human beings. To name someone or something is not just a sign of intellectual capacity, but it is also an exercise of authority. When you name someone, in certain way, the person is under your influence. When someone calls our names, immediately and automatically, our attention is drawn to the caller. Surely, we have the choice to set aside this call, but the closer that person to us, the harder it gets to ignore the call. When my mother calls me, my body instinctively moves towards her and listen to what she has to say. That\u2019s how powerful my mother is!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[57,58,67],"class_list":["post-11646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-renungan","tag-english","tag-sunday-reflection","tag-valentinus-bayuhadi-ruseno"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11646"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11647,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11646\/revisions\/11647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11646"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11646"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lubukhati.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11646"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}