In the name of the Father

When a child is born, parents want to name the baby. The little one bears that name for the rest of his or her life. When I was baptized in our Church, I was given the name Terence. I have always preferred to be called Terence, though I have a second name and a family name or surname.

We all have names. Even though we know the names of people, we can forget people's names. For Catholics, the Mass or Eucharist is the highest act of worship. At the beginning of the Mass, the priest says:

"In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

The name of the Son

In Jewish tradition, the father had the duty and privilege to name the child. Saint Joseph was asked by the angel of God, to name the child born from the womb of his Mary. He was told "Do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for what is in her womb has been conceived through the Holy Spirit. It was due to this reason that St Joseph went ahead and supported Mary, found a place for her to give birth to Jesus, and named Him exactly as the angel had told him. The New Testament speaks of the significance of the name Jesus when it says:

"He will be called Jesus, because He will save his people from their sins"

Jesus speaks of the "Father"

In the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus speaks about prayer in chapter 6. He says in the following part:

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"When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may see them. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.

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But when you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.

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^{3 4} In praying, do not babble ...

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... Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

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^{5 6} "This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,

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your kingdom come, ⁷ your will be done, on earth as in heaven.

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⁸ Give us today our daily bread;

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and forgive us our debts, ⁹ as we forgive our debtors;

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and do not subject us to the final test, ¹⁰ but deliver us from the evil one.

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¹¹ If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you.

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But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.

To me, it is very clear from this and the further words in the Scripture, that Jesus teaches me that Father is the word by which I should call Him who created me and gave me life. He is the one who listens to me when I need help. He is the one with whom I can speak through prayer.

We have to understand that of the twelve, John is known to have reclined next to Jesus at the last supper. Jesus replied to the question of His disciples
He was close to Jesus and the Gospel which (I firmly believe) he wrote speaks more in the language of Jesus.

Who calls me dearly? Who pronounces my name dearly? Is it not the parents who gave me that name? And if I was baptized in a Church, will not my Father in Heaven (Heavenly Father) pronounce my name with the greatest unction? Jesus had greatest unction for our Heavenly Father. The words He spoke to His apostles is recorded in the Gospel according to John, chapters 14 to 17. In chapter 15, Jesus says:

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I will no longer speak much with you, for the ruler of the world ¹⁴ is coming. He has no power over me,

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but the world must know that I love the Father and that I do just as the Father has commanded me. Get up, let us go.

Clearly, Scripture affirms and confirms Catholic teaching. It clearly tells me that I should say Father, and call Jesus Christ the Son.