The prayer of the Christian is personal and relational. It is not offered to some unknown being or mysterious void. When Christians pray, we pray to someone. It is familial.
God has revealed himself as a divine family. He dwells as a community of persons. We know who God is. When we pray, we pray to someone who has revealed himself to us.
For this reason, the interior life of the Christian is directed and shaped in such a way that the Trinity is at its center. The prayer of the Christian is offered to the Father in the Son by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Everything is directed to the Father, since the entire life of the Lord Jesus was an oblation of love to the Father. As we are bound to the Lord Jesus and become members of his body, so we offer everything to the Father in Jesus Christ.
Such an awareness leads the Christian to the vital and personal relationship of prayer. The believer is compelled to draw closer to the Lord Jesus since he is the way, the path, and the door to the Father. As with the personal prayer of the believer, so also for the public prayer and worship of the Church. We are all called to pursue and be with the Lord Jesus.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: “The prayer of the Church, nourished by the Word of God and the celebration of the liturgy, teaches us to pray to the Lord Jesus.”
Everything is presented to the Father through Jesus Christ. With this in mind, there are times in which prayers are offered directly to the Lord Jesus. When this occurs, the prayers are offered to Christ, but are presented by him to the Father.
The Catechism clarifies and stresses: “Even though [the Church’s] prayer is addressed above all to the Father, it includes in all the liturgical traditions, forms of prayer addressed to Christ.”
The prayers addressed to Jesus Christ are beautiful and rich in biblical imagery and meaning. They contain the fulfillment of promises and prophecies given throughout salvation history.
The Catechism continues: “Certain psalms, given their use in the prayer of the Church, and the New Testament place on our lips and engrave in our hearts prayer to Christ in the form of invocations: Son of God, Word of God, Lord, Savior, Lamb of God, King, Beloved Son, Son of the Virgin, Good Shepherd, our Life, our Light, our Hope, our Resurrection, Friend of mankind….”.
Even though there are many titles and epithets for Jesus Christ, they all express the same mystery of the God who became a man and redeemed humanity from its sin. The titles and epithets bow, therefore, to the proper name given to the Lord by the Father through the ministry of the archangel Gabriel and Saint Joseph, the Lord’s earthly father, namely, the proper name of “Jesus.”
The Catechism says it best: “But the one name that contains everything is the one that the Son of God received in his incarnation: JESUS.”
The proper name given to the Lord during his circumcision on the eighth day of his earthly life outside of his mother’s womb is the one name that says it all. It contains and fulfills all the titles and epithets given to him through prophecy.
The name, therefore, is holy. It should be spoken with great reverence and homage. The Catechism explains: “The divine name may not be spoken by human lips, but by assuming our humanity the Word of God hands it over to us and we can invoke it: ‘Jesus,’ ‘YHWH saves.’”
The holy name of Jesus contains the personal name of God once given to Adam and later given to Moses. Yahweh has come and he comes to save us – “Jesus” – “Yahweh saves.”
By drawing closer to the Lord and learning of his name, we know it is the consummation of all God’s words and deeds. The Catechism teaches: “The name ‘Jesus’ contains all: God and man and the whole economy of creation and salvation.”
When we pray in his name, we accept his invitation to be with him. We welcome him into our hearts. The Catechism explains: “To pray ‘Jesus’ is to invoke him and to call him within us. His name is the only one that contains the presence it signifies. Jesus is the Risen One, and whoever invokes the name of Jesus is welcoming the Son of God who loved him and who gave himself up for him.”
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