Names have a big role to play in this adventure we call life. Success is measured, in this world, often by
the titles we hold. We think that
stature is all important but we forget that what we call ourselves is not as
important as how we live our lives and of the people we touch along the
way. I believe we are judged not by what
we accomplish but by the good we leave behind.
Many of us have riches but no faith.
Many have faith but no riches.
For most of us, rich or poor, we lie somewhere between the light and the
darkness. We seek happiness but realize
that it comes with a price. Sacrifices
must be met, goals must be achieved and mountains need to be climbed to arrive
at what we wish to become.
We go through life seemingly without a clue, believing in anything that
makes our material life seem fulfilling.
Often what we find is a feeling of wanting. Is this enough? Is this all that there is? Is there more? Is there someone or something watching out
for me?
The answers are there,
if we can only stop for a moment and let the rush of life catch up with
us. Look up, look within, there is
somebody looking back at you, waiting for you to respond. He has always resided in our hearts and our minds;
we have just been too busy to listen. He
waits the day of our return like a jubilant child. His name is Jesus, His name is Savior, His
name is home.
Through prayer and
supplication, we find that many of the things we thought we needed in life are
not as important as we originally thought.
Material needs become secondary to the very nature of being with Him and
in the adventure of finding our true self.
It can be very uncomfortable, but the process of reshaping us into His
image can often be fraught with the fire by which we are forged.
It is important to remember that through these trials, “It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.
It is Jesus who stirs in you the
desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an idea, the
refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to
commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making
the world more human and more fraternal.” – Blessed Pope John Paul II.
Live your life as
today were your last here on Earth.
Measure your success by what you leave behind as virtue, honor and
love. Your name is not as important as
how others speak of it. But for Jesus, His
is a name by which every knee should bow, by which every ember should glow, a
most holy name, His and eternal, forevermore.
May you find the way,
the truth and the light. May you feel
the gentle breath of the Holy Spirit and may His peace, God’s peace, be with
you, always.
Dear Mr. Thomas,
ReplyDeleteAs a fellow member of the Columbus Diocese, I read with interest your piece in the Living Faith section of the most recent "Catholic Times." You raise many valid and compelling points in the article, and I thank you for what you are doing to spread the Gospel in central Ohio.
In the spirit of brotherly correction, I humbly offer you some unsolicited advice concerning the title of the article: "O Sanctissimi Nominis." Technically speaking, the Latin is a bit off. I presume you were intending to title the article, "O Most Holy Name." What you have written instead is, "O of the Most Holy Name," or, "O Most Holy Name's."
Sanctissimi is the genitive form of the adjective sanctissimum. The genitive is used to indicate possession, hence the translation using the word "of" or using the apostrophe. (As a point of interest only, the Latin hymn "O Sanctissima" uses the same adjective, but in this case is feminine to modify the feminine noun "Maria." In this case, "nomen" is neuter, so we use sanctissimum.) You also used the genitive form of nomen, meaning "of the name." The upside is that your adjective matches your noun in gender, number, and case. The down side is that it is the wrong case, hence the translation "O of the Most Holy Name."
What you really want is the nominative form (indicating the subject) of the noun/adjective pair. (Actually, you really want the vocative, used for calling out to someone, since you are including the "O", but in this case, as in many, the nominative matches the vocative.) The form you are looking for is "nomen" for the noun and "sanctissimum" for the adjective. Hence, I think the title of your piece should read, "O Sanctissimum Nomen."
This then begs the question how you came up with the errant "O Sanctissimi Nominis." Only you know for sure, but my best guess is that you pulled the phrase from a Latin version of the feast day or from the Latin title of the well known Litany of the Holy Name. In both cases, however, the genitive would be used. In the case of the liturgical celebration, we would have "The Feast OF the Holy Name." In the case of the litany we would have, "The Litany OF the Holy Name." (Emphasis added, of course.)
I hope this helps, and I hope you don't find my pointing it out too abrasive. As I said, thank you for your writing; I very much enjoyed it.
Cordially yours,
Jake Tawney
Delaware, Ohio