Meaning of a Name

Leonard Mann writes the following. He entered our world at the same gate all babies do, the gate of birth. When they held him up and spanked him, I suppose he cried as all babies cry. But who was he, this newborn child? Those Bethlehem shepherds had some feelings about that; they went around calling him a Savior. Those wise men from the East had some opinions about it; they went to a lot of trouble to hail him and greet him as a newborn King. His mother had some private feelings about him which she "kept and pondered in her heart." Joseph had his feelings too, for, after all, in a dream he had listened to an angel visitant tell him even what name should be given to the Child. For it was required that even the incarnate Son of God must have assigned to him a denoting word… It is written in Luke 2:21 that eight days after the birth of the Bethlehem Child "when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus." This was the name given to him. Jesus was his "given" name. A surname is inherited; the child takes the surname of his parents. Of course, in that ancient time and land surnames were not used as we use them now. A man was simply known by his given name and further identified by the town he lived in. Thus we have Jesus of Nazareth. The word "Christ" is not actually a part of his name; it is a kind of title, meaning "anointed" or "chosen" one. It is the Greek word Christos. This was not a part of his given name, but was given to him in common usage later, with the growing awareness that he was someone very special. So we put together his given name, the name of the town where he lived, and the title which came to be his, and we have this: Jesus Christ of Nazareth. To be completely correct, it should read: Jesus, the Christ… So, after eight days they took him to the place of circumcision, and they said to those attending there, "This is Jesus." And the authorities responded, "So he is." And he was. Upon entering the world, each of us is given a name; and it is up to us to give that name a meaning by the way we live and how we bear it across our span of years. This Bethlehem Child was called by a very common word; there was a boy named Jesus: in almost every city block. But this Child took that word, and in about 33 years gave it a meaning that nobody had ever given it before and that nobody ever has since. The word "Jesus" means Savior. Savior he was, and for this reason this word was assigned to him as his name. Nobody ever fulfilled the meaning of a name any more completely than Jesus fulfilled that one. Here are some other names and their meaning: Michael = one who is like God; Katherine = pure; Alexander -= helper of men; Dorothy = gift of God; David = beloved friend; Debra or Deborah = Bee. What is the meaning of your name? Do you live out what your name means?

Msgr Mike