Magnificat Vol. LIX, No. 1 21 How? Because God gives this infinite power to the words of the priest. So too, God in His immense goodness gives to each one of us an almighty word with which we can do wonders for Him, for ourselves and for the world. That word is JESUS. The Incarnation JESUS signifies God made man, that is, the Incarnation. When the Son of God became man, He was called Jesus so that when we say JESUS, we offer the Eternal Father the infinite love, the infinite merits of Jesus Christ. With one word, we offer Him His own Divine Son Himself, we offer Him the great mystery of the Incarnation. God became man for love of us but what does it avail us if we do not understand this love? God the infinite, immense, eternal, almighty God, the sovereign Creator, God who fills Heaven with His majesty, hid all His power, majesty and greatness to become a little child, in order to become like us and thereby gain our love. He entered into the pure womb of the Virgin Mary where He lay hidden for nine whole months. Then He was born in a stable between two animals. He was poor and humble. He passed thirty-three years of His life working, suffering, praying, teaching His beautiful Religion, working miracles, doing good to all. He did all of this to prove His love for each one of us and thereby constrain us to love Him in return. This stupendous act of love was so great that not even the highest Angels in Heaven could have conceived it to be possible had God not revealed it to them. It was so great that the Jews, God’s chosen people, who were awaiting a Saviour, were scandalized at the thought that God could humble Himself so much. Saint Paul says that God exhausted all the resources of His power, wisdom and goodness in becoming a man for us: He emptied Himself... being made like unto men.8 Our Lord has done still more, for He has made over to us all His infinite merits so that we can offer them to the Eternal Father as often as we like, a hundred, a thousand times a day. And that is what we can do each time we say JESUS, if only we remember what we are saying. When you say the Name of Jesus, remember also to thank our sweet Lord for His Incarnation. The Passion The second meaning of the word Jesus is Jesus dying on the Cross, for Saint Paul tells us that Our Lord merited this most Holy Name by His sufferings and death. Therefore, when we say JESUS, we should also wish to offer the Passion and Death of Our Lord to the Eternal Father for His greater glory and for our own intentions. Just as Our Lord became a man for each one of us, so He died not for all men in general, but for each one in particular. When He was nailed to the Cross, He saw me, He saw you, and He offered every pang of His dreadful agony, every drop of His Precious Blood, every one of His humiliations, insults and outrages for me, for you, for each one of us! He has given us all these infinite merits as our very own. We may offer them hundreds and hundreds of times every day to the Eternal Father, for ourselves and for the world. We do this every time we say JESUS. At the same time, let us wish to give thanks to Our Lord for all that He has suffered for us. The Holy Mass The third intention we ought to have when saying the Name of Jesus is to offer all the Masses that are being said all over the world 8. Philippians 2:7.
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