the pledge of future glory.
A name represents that person, his or her identity. According to Matthew 1:21, Joseph was directed by an angel to call Mary's son "Jesus," a name that means "God saves." This is Jesus' identity. He is the Saviour of the world. As such His Name is "above every name" and is the name at which "every knee should bend" (Philippians 2:9-10). Moreover, according to a speech that St Peter gave in front of the Sanhedrin, "There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved" (Acts: 4:12). The Name of Jesus says it all and is all-powerful. It's a prayer in itself.
As Jesus can be represented by His Name, so He is also represented by His Heart. The heart is the centre of a person, that person's deepest interior or identity. Thus devotion to the Name of Jesus goes with devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Jesus fulfilled the Name given to Him when He suffered and died on the cross, when His Heart was pierced so that Blood and Water, the sacramental life of the Church, would flow forth and save the world.
"Suffice it to recall the spiritual favours that our predecessors from the sixteenth century on have attached to practising devotion to the Most Holy Name of Jesus, which in the previous century St Bernardine of Siena untiringly spread throughout Italy. No less striking, are the benefits the popes have attached to practicing devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, whose rise and spread owe so much to the revelations of the Sacred Heart to St Margaret Mary Alacoque. So highly have all the popes regarded this devotion that again and again in their official acts they have expounded its nature, defended its validity, promoted its practice.
"Likewise the devotion to the Most Precious Blood, which owes its marvelous diffusion to the 19th-century Roman priest, St Gaspar del Bufalo, has rightly merited the approval and backing of this Apostolic See.
"The humble nun of Brendola is the confirmation of a tradition that makes a fervent parish the first school of how to live a life of goodness and of holiness. Saint Bertilla is now on the altars above those people called the wise and the prudent of this century. She did not attend an extensive training in the schools but was able to carry out with good grace each task entrusted to her. Her book, kept jealously among her most treasured possessions was the Catechism, given to her by her parish priest. From it, she drew inspiration and comfort as a child, retiring with it alone in solitude, after having finished the housework, to read and re-read it all the time and to teach it with fervour to her contemporaries.
Here we have a simple soul who from the first unfolding of her vocation is pleased to throw herself into it entirely and without reservation, helped on by the respect the consent and encouragement of her parents. She was happy to do even the most humble service, because she does not ask for anything for herself, nor was she diverted by fancies of curiosity or by personal preferences.
And 'they' called her "the Goose" but she is a Saint, high above all of 'them'! The simple peasant woman who was once called "the Goose" had taken flight and soared all the way up to Heaven.
St Maria Bertilla Boscardin, Pray for us!
Only for today, I will seek to live the livelong day positively, without wishing to solve the problems of my life all at once.
Only for today, I will take the greatest care of my appearance – I will dress modestly, I will not raise my voice, I will be courteous in my behaviour, I will not criticise anyone, I will not claim to improve or to discipline anyone except myself.
Only for today, I will do at least one thing I do not like doing and if my feelings are hurt, I will make sure that no one notices.
Only for today, I will make a plan for myself – I may not follow it to the letter but I will make it. And I will be on guard against two evils: hastiness and indecision.
Only for today, I will firmly believe, despite appearances, that the good Providence of God cares for me ,as no one else who exists in this world.
St Pope John XXIII, Pray for Us!
REFLECTION – " Now by asking, He means prayer but by seeking, zeal and anxiety, as He adds, seek and you shall find. For those things which are sought require great care. And this is particularly the case with God. For there are many things which block up our senses. As then we search for lost gold, so let us anxiously seek after God. He shows also, that though He does not forthwith open the gates, we must yet wait. Hence he adds, knock and it shall be opened to you, for if you continue seeking, you shall surely receive. For this reason and as the door shut makes you knock, therefore He did not at once consent that you might entreat.