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New Year's Day - the Feast of the Holy Name

It's New Year's Day and while most of the world is celebrating that fact, many Christians will also be celebrating the Holy Name of Jesus. The following text is from the Episcopal Church website:

Today is the feast of the Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eternal Father, who gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Holy Name Day, celebrated on January 1, honors the naming of Jesus, which took place on the eighth day after his birth in accordance with Jewish custom. Formerly known in Anglican tradition as the Feast of the Circumcision, the day was renamed in the 1979 Book of Common Prayer to emphasize the power and meaning of the name given to the Son of God. The name “Jesus,” meaning “Savior” or “Deliverer,” recalls the angel’s message to Joseph that the child would save his people from their sins. Early Christian preaching stressed that this name belonged to one who was both fully human—sharing our flesh, blood, and death—and fully divine, raised in power by God. While earlier observances of the day carried layers of meaning, from Gallican fasts to Roman devotion to Mary, today the Church centers January 1 on the holy name itself, a reminder that in Jesus we find true deliverance and lasting freedom from all that binds us.

Happy New Year everyone and blessed Feast of the Holy Name!

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