9.—THE NAME.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume I, Issue 43, 21 February 1874, Page 13

9.— THE NAME.

The bloody rite being accomplished, the Mohel repeated tins bussing : '• Adonaii, God of our ancestors, fortify and preserve this child for his father and mother. Grant that his name may be honoured among the sons of Israel. Let him be called (here was pronouiiced the name chosen for the child), may he be the joy of the father who has begotten him and of the mother who has given hina birth !"(6) It was under circumstances like to these(7) that the name of Jesus, being proclaimed in the stable of Bethlehem, resounded in presence of the latest descendants of the family of DaviJ, gathered together in their native village, in virtue of an order from Augustus. Did the witnesses of the legal ceremony understand at the time the sense of tho divine name before which " every knee bends, in Heaven, on earth, and in Hell ?" We can easily conceive that the Shepherds, instructed by tho Angels, and the crowd, in the midst of which the report of the marvels of the Crib had circulated, must have hailed, as a happy presage, the nani<? of Jesus (Saviour), given to the scion of the royal race, so long fallen to decay. The first time the name had appeared in the annals of the Hebrews, it recalled the conquest of the Promised Laud, au>l the victories of Josue. Later on, with Zurobabel, the name of Jesus, borne by a High Priest, had marked the end of the captivity of Babylon, and the inauguration of the second tenple. In fine, at a recent epoch, the name of Jesus, the author of the Book of Ecclesiastic us, had become as the synonym of wisJoin, descended from Heaven to instruct men. The name of Jesus was not then, as rationalism affects to believe it, " a very common name." The historical tradition of the Hebrews assigned to it a very remarkable role. Wheu it was given to the divine Son of Mary, doubtless, the ass'iii'its were persuaded that the descpndant of David, around whose cradle they were assembled, would be, one day, a warrior, powerful as Josue ; resstorer of the Mosaic worship, like the Hii*h Priest Jesus, Son of Joeedech ; wise, like Jeeue, Son of Sirach. The hopes of the Jews soared no higher. The yoke of the fourth empire — the empire of is on, foretold by David — weighed heavily upon them. Rome was crushing them to the earth, under the hand of Herod- But the time marked by the prophecy of Jacob had arrived, the final period of the seventy weeks ot years was come. All the Jews awaited the conqueror, sprung from David, who would establish, at Jerusalem, an everlasting throne. Two persons, alone, did not take part in these national illusions : Mary, who preserved in her heart the divine mysteries, and Joseph, to whom the Angel had saH : " You shall call tho child by the name of Jesue, for it is he who will save the people from their sins." The Hebrew prejudice with regard to the materialistic character of the empire of Chris r, will discover itself to us at every page of the Gospel So inveterate was it to be in its duration, that up to this very time, the Jews still expert a Mestiah — a Son of the Star — whose powwr taking its rise from Jeiusalern, will establish Judea as the centre of the universal dominion of the world.

1 Luc, 1, 21. 2 Genes., xvii, 12. 3 Le\itic , xv, 3. 4 Ceremonies and customs obseived among the Jews. Luon de Modene. 5 S>cpp, vie de Notre Seigueur Jesus Christ, torn. I, pag, 236, 237, 0 Rational, torn. 111, note. 7. pag, 434, 7 The esseiitiallj traditional character of the Je\N\sh people, leaves no doubt as to the antiquity of tho rites, the observance of which is still m usu, for Cncumcision, Although the Evangelist does not enter into any particular details on this subject, he indicates in a positive manner that all the ceremonies prescribed by tho law were fulfilled, Perfecerunt omnia senmdum legem Domau (Luc, 11, 39 J It is then highly prcbable that the Circumcision of Jesus Chri3t was carried oil with the accustomed formalities, and that the circumstances were like to those above related, according to the ritualistic custom of the Hebrews,