Who are Holy Name Society Members?

Who are Holy Name Society members, this is a question we get asked many times as we attempt to recruit members to this special Confraternity of the Catholic Church.

Holy Name Society members are basically Catholics living out our faith lives in our parish communities - praying to deepen our relationship with Jesus Christ. Each and every member is seeking to strengthen their faith.

When we read or hear His gospel message, we open ourselves up to all of His gifts given through the Holy Spirit. I can honestly say that the members of this Society attempt to grow closer to Jesus Christ each day. Our families also grow spiritually as well. Yes, we also try to evangelize by sharing our love of Christ with others in our families, parishes, neighborhoods and in our work place - where ever God has placed us.

The Catholic Church promoted the foundation of this Society, which has established it's purpose for giving honor and praise to the most Holy Name of Jesus Christ and the promotion of a more perfect life for its members, the exercise of pious or charitable works and the increase of public worship. Holy Name Society members accomplish all of this through prayer, frequent reception of the Sacraments and fraternal cooperation in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy.

"Why are You Standing There Looking at the Sky"

Then the angels appear and say, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing and looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven." (Acts 12:11)

In the Acts of the Apostles Jesus promises the power of the Holy Spirit, "...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witness in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8) Then right after saying these words, He ascends to heaven in all His glory, right before their very eyes. We can only imagine the look of awe and surprise on their faces as they watch Jesus ascend into the sky. Their mouths must have been wide open as they were staring into the heavens looking for Jesus.

The Catholic Church commemorates this special event with the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord. The Ascension of Jesus completes his earthly ministry. For three years he taught and showed the love of God for all people. He reached out and healed those who were sick and in pain and he called sinners back to a relationship with God. He paid the ultimate price and showed us the full extent of God's mercy when He allowed himself to be crucified on the Cross of Calvary so that we might obtain eternal happiness with our God in heaven. Then He rose again from the dead on Easter Sunday morning and spent the next fifty days with His disciples teaching them further about what God expected of them in order that the good news of salvation would be spread to the whole world.

Bold Mission – Bright Future

The Holy Name Society has a Bold Mission – given to us by the Catholic Church - the Bride of Christ herself - to spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus in today’s society - which is disinterested at best - and in some parts of the world fueled by the ignorance of the teachings of Mohammed are violently opposed to any teaching from Jesus Christ or for that matter any practice of devotion to Jesus Christ. Our Christian brothers and sisters are being martyred at a staggering rate at the hands of Boko Haram in Nigeria and ISIS / ISIL in Iraq, Syria, Egypt and Lebanon.

At times it seems that the world has completely turned it's back on the teachings of Jesus Christ and many people appear to be literally running away from His love and mercy.

As members of the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of God and Jesus - Holy Name Society members - we are called in a very special way to defend and protect the divinity of the Name of Jesus Christ and all it represents. As Holy Name Society members we are called by and strengthened by the Holy Spirit to work individually and collectively in our parish societies to carry out the Spiritual and Corporal works of mercy.

Joy from Sorrow - Strength from Joy

"You seek Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified. He has been raised; he is not here." (Mk. 16:16) These are the words that Mary Magdelene, Mary the Mother of James, and Salome all heard when they entered the tomb where Jesus was placed after his crucifixion and death. They had come to anoint the body of Jesus. Scripture describes the one saying these words as a "young man in a white robe." This "young man" or angel was there to share the good news with them that Jesus rose from the dead. He tells them not to be amazed, but rather to go and share the good news with the disciples and Peter. The angel tells these women that Jesus will be in Galilee, where they will see the risen Lord.

The grief and suffering that Jesus' followers experienced on Good Friday as they watched Jesus die that agonizing death has been changed to joy. They thought that all of their hopes and dreams in the Messiah died with him on the cross. Instead, their lives will be changed forever with the joy of seeing Christ Jesus raised from the dead.

Dynamic Transformation

The Confraternity of the Holy Name of God and Jesus is a Catholic (Universal) confraternity founded to publicly spread devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus Christ and teach reverence for the Holy Name of God. Through this apostolate, opportunities are provided to encourage members to strive for personal holiness and ultimately obtain their personal salvation. The Holy Name Society strives to show all men and women, even with all of our imperfections, that they can still praise, serve and love Jesus and witness to His word and make His presence real.

Members of the Holy Name Society show reverence for His name by using it properly in all communications and have a strong and devoted prayer life and encourage others to do likewise. In public, members of the Holy Name Society show love and respect for their neighbors, just like Jesus taught us by helping and serving others in their time of need. Holy Name Society members practice both the Corporal Works and the Spiritual Works of Mercy - for as St. James taught us, "faith without works is dead".

Belonging to the Holy Name Society develops Catholics in many ways including showing them how to grow in sacramental grace and strengthen moral virtues. This is primarily accomplished by frequent participation in the sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist. Confession, the sacrament of God's Mercy, reconciles us with God for all of our transgressions and gives us the strength to avoid these temptations of sin. The sacrament of Holy Eucharist feeds us spiritually to live out our lives as Christ taught us in the Gospel.

Mary the Mother of God - A Model of Life

The Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord commemorates the appearance of the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary to announce that she was chosen by God to be the Mother of our Lord.  Once Mary said her fiat ("yes"), the Holy Spirit descended upon her and she conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit.  You can find this great story in the gospel of Saint Luke, chapter 1, verses 26 to 38.

This feast not only commemorates Jesus becoming true man, it also commemorates Mary's willingness to be completely open to the will of God. When the Angel Gabriel explains that she will become pregnant with a son, and that He will be the Son of the Most High, she is confused. She replies, "How can this be since I have no relations with a man?" (Luke 1:34).  Once the Angel Gabriel finished the explanation to Mary, she very openly responds, "Behold I am the handmaid of the Lord, May it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38)  Mary's resounding - YES to the Holy Spirit is a model of selflessness and resignation to the will of God that all of us as members of the Holy Name Society can learn from and should strive to emulate.

Doing Nothing is Not an Option

Today's families are struggling for survival. broken with divorce, addictions to drugs, alcohol, pornography and many other sinful behaviors.

Jesus taught us the definition of true love and gave us a plan of how to take care of each other, unfortunately man has turned his back on our Creators divine plan for our society and our world and has instead created his own self centered definition of love. This has resulted in an incorrect view of the Sacrament of Marriage in our society. We are now turning a Sacrament designed by God to give us special graces and a divine plan for living together in peace, harmony and spiritual growth and are turning it into a Sacrilege against God and an assault on the human family.  Seems that man individually and collectively has forgotten that the primary purpose of his existence in this life is to to obtain the goal of eternal salvation.

The Supreme Court is getting ready to make a ruling this year on gay marriages. We must pray for Divine Guidance for deliverance from the evils of gay marriage which shamefully have taken over our country. The book of Genesis tells us through the story of Sodom and Gomorrah that the sin of homosexuality is indeed a very grave matter in God's eyes and requires us as faithful followers of Jesus Christ to love the sinner, but to hate the sin. We also know that the two cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, which God ultimately destroyed by fire, would have been spared from destruction had there been only ten good men to pray for them (Gen.18:16-33).

What will we do for the Holy Name?

The Holy Name of Jesus...What holy thoughts, impulses and resolutions it provokes. What will we do for the Holy Name? We must do something. This at least we can do - love it more, use it more reverently, bless with it more, make it the sweetness of our mouths, the music of our ears, the love of our hearts, the light of our minds, the strength of our wills and the joy of our souls.

We can say it and say it again - with love, praise and devotion. We can use it in so many ways of praise, adoration, thanksgiving and in reparation for the many times His Name is defamed and used improperly...we can use it for ourselves and our friends and have our friends use it for us. We can even use it to honor GOD, in His praise; and to ask Jesus, Mary and Joseph to use it for us. We can meditate in prayer on the many glories of His Name.

Can I Get a Witness?

The question was posed: “If you were on trial for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict?”

The silence in the youth room was near deafening. And it wasn’t just the teens that were visibly uncomfortable. What started for me as a slightly less than critical self-assessment of faith in practice, turned into serious examination of my relationship with God and the Four Last Things.

Have I loved God with my whole heart and soul? How have I (or have I?) introduced my neighbor to the love of Christ? As I grappled with these questions – looking over my life and the prospect of an eternity with or without God – I felt more than a little unsure that the evidence to convict me indeed existed …

Who would testify on my behalf? Who would be my witness?

Sacred Scripture tells us that the testimony of two or three reliable witnesses is required as evidence to convict (Deut 19:15; Mt 18:16). As if to underscore the point, Jesus always seemed to keep His faithful disciples – Peter, James, and John – close by when He wished to reveal something extraordinary about Himself. Credible witnesses perfect and help serve justice.

But history teaches us that witnessing can be hazardous to your health, too. There was no Witness Protection Program for the prophets in the Old Testament, for Lazarus or John the Baptist. Jesus said that the very reason He was born and came into the world was to testify to the truth. But that testimony got Him abandoned, rejected, humiliated, convicted, and ultimately, crucified. Countless Christian martyrs from the first century onward shared the same fate. Since His disciples are held to the standard He set, they may passively see, hear, and believe, but then must actively witness – without compromise – to what they came to know by faith.

Can you Spare a Dime?

Recently I received an email from a Jewish friend, which read: "I finally figured out that the rule of Gemilut Hasidim is you should always do what is right - even if others do not. Tradition holds that a Jew must give to a beggar in the street when asked. Equally important, Jewish commentary insists that a beggar or poor person be treated with dignity. There are many reasons for this, but two stand out. By performing Gemilut Hasidim, people cultivate the divine qualities within them. Also important within Judaism is the notion that anyone who suffers diminishes every member of the community."

"Brilliant!" I emailed back, and thought, "vaguely familiar." So I started reading. What I discovered upon digging deeper into this Jewish rule of 'loving kindness' was a heritage that we as Christians and Catholics draw richly upon as well.

First, we recognize God as the Master of Charity - that He sustains all creation through His acts of kindness and that as recipients of this kindness, we emulate Him when we act in a like manner to one another. If we recognize that we are totally dependent on this loving Creator, that everything we have is a gift from Him and we own nothing of ourselves, then pride and feelings of superiority are non-existant - we give, we share, with the same reckless and selfless abandon.

“Life Offers us Many Ways to Suffer..."

Regardless of whether it’s merited or not, whether a consequence of a conscious choice or a turn of an unfriendly card, suffering is part of our fallen human nature. There’s no escaping it in this life. We may try to fight it and we may not admit it, but ultimately, we all serve, we all sacrifice, and we all suffer.

There are questions we need to ask ourselves in the face of suffering: What do we do with it? What is our attitude towards it? Like tempering steel, it can be a source of great strength and growth if we let it. If it becomes more than merely something to endure or plow through, we (or someone else) may merit from it.

Even with God’s grace and the dignity brought about through endurance, sometimes the meaning of suffering can only be discerned by looking at it through the lens of time. “Misfortunes” may become blessings with the proper perspective. In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl wrote: “... suffering ceases to be suffering at the moment it finds a meaning, such as the meaning of sacrifice.”

The Power of One

Watching the Olympic competitions presently underway in England, one observes the performances of awesome, world class athletes in competition with the best of the best. Whether in an individual or team sport, the winning participants often reach their goals measured in tenths or thousands of a second. These athletes draw on resources accessible to them from their extensive training, from their sacrifices and commitment to their sport, and from skills acquired through intensive training. Their performances are built on skills perfected over time to the point where excelling is natural, even taken for granted. They have acquired an exceptional power individually or as a member of a team.

A few days ago, we saw an extraordinary example of the power that individuals can have under the most horrendous of conditions. People across the country and around the world, watched newscasters recount the details of horrendous carnage that was perpetrated during a premier showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colorado. The media pounced on this killing field for days recording and presenting the “story” from every accessible angle. However, what emerged, from at least some of these televised reports, was not only the detailing of the acts of the lone gunman, but also the reports of the awesome, heroic and powerful life-saving services rendered by some of these “Batman” movie fans. From this one incident many viewers were reminded of the “power of One.” From where does the courage arise to respond and do such brave deeds with such selfless disregard for themselves? Do we as average men and women of God have the same capacity to excel?

The Christian Family - A Centripetal Force

The Christian Family - A Centripetal Force

A great deal of attention and much discussion has recently centered on a subject that should interest Holy Name Society members tremendously.  It is the state of the American family. The family is a microcosm of the Church; it has an important place in God’s plan for the salvation of individual souls throughout the world.

There is growing unrest today among Holy Name Society members on what is believed to be a decline in family values.  Family values can best be described as the values or beliefs that provide for a safe and secure environment for children to learn true moral values as taught to us by our Christian faith – values that keep a family in harmony and peace.

There seems to be a “centrifugal” force at work in our families. This describes the phenomenon that seems to pull our families apart, a force that should concern us greatly.   The word centrifugal means literally to flee the center or fly from the center.  A simple dictionary definition speaks of a force or action proceeding away from a center (see pictorial above).  Scientists speak of this as a force that an object moving along a circular path exerts on that object constraining the object and acts outwardly driving it away from the center of rotation.  An example would be a stone whirled on a string exerts centrifugal force on the string.  The opposite force is called "centripetal" force i.e. “seeking the center” and so proceeding in a direction to the center of rotation – a force directly opposed to centrifugal force.

For Ash Wednesday, Suffering, My Role in the Mystical Body of Christ

As a Catholic I have heard about suffering all of my life. I never gave it any real thought outside of Christ’s Passion until I was diagnosed with cancer and really started feeling the pain of this horrible disease.

“Now I rejoice in my suffering for your sake, and in my flesh and I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of His body which is the Church, of which I am a minister in accordance with God’s stewardship given to me to bring to completion for you the word of God, the mystery hidden from ages and from generations past.” Col 1:24-26

Amazing to think of it in this context and much easier to understand when we are told to “offer up our sufferings” for the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Ok, now you will ask, “Offer it Up?” Yes, we offer it up in order to unite our sufferings to those of Jesus, in order to complete the salvation that he indeed fulfilled on Calvary over 2000 years ago. When we join our suffering to His it gives us a sense of being complete within the mystery of the Mass.

Freedom of Religion in America?

 There are many lessons we can learn from history if we pay attention to them. I would like to talk about these lessons. It shows how evil can triumph over a nation, if it is done gradually, and no one responds.

 In 1932 a man with a funny looking mustache was seen in many parts of Germany campaigning to be the leader of the nation. He talked about the “Jewish menace”. Many people thought he was goofy and they paid little attention to him.  No one did anything. As time went on this man formed a political party, the Nazis’. He encouraged them to persecute the Jewish people, and they listened to him.  No one stepped up to say or do anything. This man then came to power. He began to take away the rights of the Jewish people.  He would not allow them to teach in the Universities, or to practice their professions. He even forced them to leave the country. No one did anything. One night the persecution went a step farther. Jewish businesses were vandalized. No one did anything. Next he deported the Jewish people to concentration camps for slave labor. No one did anything.  Lastly, the “final step” took place - genocide. Over six million Jewish people were murdered, and along with them many Catholic Religious (e.g. Maximillian Kolbe)

Works of Mercy - Today

Many years ago when living out a very difficult few years of my life the Corporal Works of Mercy remained on my mind almost daily, today as I see society unravel at the seams I find myself floating back to those moments in time where I was the one in need of works of mercy….

The Bible is a constant companion in the life of many Christians, it is the guidepost many use along our journey of life but for me it is much, much more. In January of last year (2011) I found myself in the hospital on the receiving end of a diagnoses from a specialist in oncology, a cancer doctor. I was told that I had pancreatic cancer and that from this moment on my life would never be the same. Well those words were pretty accurate and indeed my life has not been the same. It has become better in so many ways it’s even hard for me to believe at times.

That day took me back to the times in my life when I felt truly alone and unsure of anything - that my life had been one big waste of time - with no meaning and no fruitfulness. For the next few days I sat in that hospital bed wondering just what would happen to me and what would people say. Most I was sure would simply say “Oh, I am so sorry to hear that” and go on about their business. But really, what had I done to cause people to take notice?

Give Drink to the Thirsty

The Second corporal work of mercy, ‘Give Drink To The Thirsty’ doesn’t immediately strike one as something urgent in our modern society. It is a rare occasion when we are really thirsty. We are never far away from clean water in America. So, what is the importance and meaning of this Corporal Work of Mercy, and how do we practice it?

Firstly, water is very commonplace, and generally not expensive. We tend to take it for granted. But, as we know, water is very important. Our bodies are mostly made of water, and the earth is mostly covered with water. However, simply because water is common does not minimize its significance. Just like many of God’s creations: trees, fresh air to breath, love, grace, birth, death - there is an abundance of them. (Sometimes it requires the loss of something to make us appreciate it properly).

When Are You Going To Grow Up?

In the gospel of St. Matthew we read: At that time, the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Mt 18:1-3) Christ was never one to mince words; this is an imperative - our conversion.  Have you ever wondered: what are these childlike qualities He has in mind?  Well, what are the things we most admire in the young?  Here’s what immediately springs to my mind: simplicity, innocence, optimism, obedience.  Awe and wonder.  Faith.

How about "maturity"?

Measure of Success

Success is often measured by many different yardsticks in our secular society. Some measure “success” by how much money they make, or how many material possessions they have at their disposal. Athletes often measure “success” by how many victories they have or championship rings they have won, records held, and the like. A smaller segment of society measures success by their health and the number of close and personal friends they have.

Holy Name Society members have a different measure of success. In the Gospel of John we are taught, "I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. (Jn 10:10) and Pope John Paul II taught us “God, who alone is goodness, fullness of life, the final end of human activity, and perfect happiness.” (Pope John Paul II, Veritatas Splendor). From this HNS members understand that success comes from perfect happiness and that his can only come from one source - a live centered on Jesus Christ and following His teachings.

Sometimes God has to take almost everything we hold near and dear to our human hearts, before we take the time to realize what success truly is and is not! Read the note below from a man who discovered the true meaning of success.

Lost Sheep - Good Shepherd

Have you ever contemplated upon the mental image of the shepherd from Matthew and Luke's gospels -- the shepherd who leaves the flock of ninety-nine sheep to find the one that was lost? Have you ever noticed that in some of the paintings of Jesus as the shepherd, the lamb hoisted upon His shoulders has a bandage around one leg? Sheep ranchers will tell you that in some cases, a young lamb will habitually stray -- no matter how many times the shepherd brings it back to the flock, it continues to run off - leading other members of the flock to stray as well.


In severe cases, in order to protect the life of the young lamb and the rest of the flock, the shepherd is forced to do the unthinkable...... the shepherd intentionally breaks the leg of the habitually wandering lamb.