The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ

The Collect
Eternal Father, you gave to your incarnate Son the holy name of Jesus to be the sign of our salvation: Plant in every heart, we pray, the love of him who is the Savior of the world, our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

The Psalm
8

The Readings
Numbers 6:22-27     +     Galatians 4:4-7     +     Luke 2:15-21

But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them. After eight days had passed, it was time to circumcise the child; and he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
~Luke 2:19-21

On civil calendars today is New Year's Day. But the church's new year began back on the first Sunday of Advent. Today, it is the octave of Christmas, eight days after the celebration of the Nativity of Our Lord, and we celebrate his naming. We are midway through this Christmastide, in which we are given twelve days to celebrate and contemplate the mystery of the Incarnation; like Mary, to ponder these things deeply in our heart.

The holy Name of Jesus, given by the angel, means literally, the LORD is salvation. And so, we begin each year with the Holy Name of Jesus, the Name by which we proclaim God's salvation for us as often as we confess him. 

May all your days in the year to come be blessed by Jesus, the One who is our peace.

Closing Prayer

O Lord, whose years are without end and who dwells in the light of an unending day: as we begin this year in your Name, grant us wisdom to use our time wisely, that your love may be the beginning and ending of all our hopes, our work, our joy, and our desires. Amen.
~from Saint Augustine's Prayer Book