“IN THE NAME OF JESUS”
Saint John 16. 23-30
Rogate: 29 May Anno Domini 2011
Fr J. Wm. Watson S.S.P.
What day is it that you will ask Jesus nothing? You are supposed to pray constantly and to reflect back to the Lord the Word(s) of Life He has given you: "O Lord, open Thou my lips, and my mouth shall show forth Thy praise!" What day was it that the "12" would no longer ask Jesus things?
Quite simply the Lord was again talking, a bit obtusely for the "challenged" Disciples, about his visible departure which would occur 40 days after His Easter Resurrection. During the three years of their travels with the Christ, the "12" could simply approach Him, face-to-face, and respectfully ask Him questions, seek guidance, or make their concerns known. They asked "Him" things but not His "Name." Is the person better than the person's name? Or are they supposed to be one and the same? In Asian cultures one's honor, name, and family name is of supreme worth. Even moderns in the West put great value on one's reputation and name. If someone insults your Mother or Father it used to mean a fist-fight was imminent.
The Lord's Name given by God through Gabriel to both Joseph and the Blessed Virgin is of supreme importance. The Lord's Name isn't just a thing to call Him, it's what He really is-it's His identity. Jesus doesn't just mean "savior," Jesus IS SAVIOR!
Jesus became invisible to the eyes of His Disciples, and He remains invisible to the eyes of his disciples. Pagans who are adversarial enemies of The Truth, atheists who are humanistic, Darwinian vandals against the supernatural verities, will mock you for having your "invisible friend" your "Easter Bunny with holes in His hands." Pray for them, suffer them, and hope that all those who rely only on their empirical five senses will not be lost for their rejection of The Truth which goes beyond mere sight.
"Whatever you ask in the Father's Name He will give to you." This is the Gospel of the Lord! The Father's Name is Father. A Father loves His children and always gives them what they need and what is best for them. A rebellious and drunken late-teen may disrespectfully ask his "old man" for a bag of crack cocaine; but the long-suffering and loving Father of the troubled lad will still give him food, drink, a place to sleep, clothes, and love.
You pray to your Father in heaven and petition Him for things, and He gives you all that you need to sustain your body and health; He gives you faith to hold on to His only begotten Son; He gives you forgiveness of sins by His Son, and He gives you life eternal and exalted.
When you pray the Father, you now do it, as Christians have been doing it for 2,000 years, just like the Lord instructs the "12" in this reading, in "Jesus' Name." So you are asking for "things" in the Name of Salvation-in the Name of the Saving One! You think you need the stuff you ask for which you think will make your "life" better. The only "life" that matters is everlasting life. The only clothes that matter are the robes of righteousness. The only food and drink that matter are the bread morsels of heaven and the water of regeneration that truly quenches.
If "faith is the evidence of things not seen" as the writer to the Hebrews preaches and recorded by the inspiration of the unseen Holy Spirit, than faith and satisfaction, and comfort, and peace in all the things needed for your life and salvation come by way of Jesus. And Jesus says they come by His Word through the Spirit Who brings you Jesus; and he who has Jesus has all that Jesus is as well as the Father Himself.
You may be getting older and feebler; you may be sick and dying; you may be hurting and in great tribulation; you may be grieving for those who "you don't think" are Christians; you may be stewing in self-recriminations, doubts, and Law-revealed trespasses; but Jesus loves you. He loves you with perfect Divine Goodness and Mercy which took into its essence your very own fallen humanity. He made humanity holy "In Him" by assuming it, fixing it, and having it obey all the Holy Law perfectly. He loves you with a God/Man Person that paid the ultimate penalty for all the death-deserving crimes against God you commit. He loves you by forgiving you all your sins! You are forgiven by being washed clean + and clothed and placed into a family for the ages. You are forgiven by being spoken gently and lovingly to; taught; instructed; built-up; and absolved + with words of Peace as great as the triple absolution of Saint Peter on the Sea of Tiberias. You are forgiven by being fed and by being given to drink the Body and Blood of God-"given and + shed for you".
All of Jesus is given you in the "Name" of Jesus. In salvation you are saved and forgiven. With Salvation inside you, you are saved and forgiven.
In the + Name of Jesus