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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

A Letter - A Prayer - A Life

One of the awesome things about Sacred Scripture is the many ways it can touch your heart.  You can read a passage or hear it read a dozen times and each time something new will be placed on your heart.  Sometimes a message or meaning is so obvious, so in-your-face, that you wonder how you could have missed it.  One day, I had one of those moments while I was reading Matthew's account of Judgement Day, as illustrated by the Separation of the Sheep and Goats. 

Entertaining Angels

I’ve been a witness countless times over the past 8 years or so of the significance -- moreover the need -- of prison ministry.  I've read numerous testimonials and letters of gratitude and appreciation to persons or groups "outside the walls" who have taken their time and energy to share their faith with total strangers.  I've seen attitudes and even lives changed by simple, thoughtful, prayerful contact and conversation with Christians.

There are more than a few good people out there just trying to live the gospel message –- trying to take serious Jesus’ gentle reminders that we are our brother’s keeper. We are all called, as members of the Mystical Body of Christ, to spread the gospel, to spread His love.  And neither trial, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril, nor the sword can separate us from His love. Nothing -- not even prison walls.