25 April 2025 – Friday in the Octave of Easter
Homily
At the beginning of Eastertide, the liturgical lectionary, for the first reading at mass, draws extensively from the first chapters of the Acts of the Apostles, which describe for us the experience of the Apostles and of the first Christian community in Jerusalem, immediately after the death and resurrection of Jesus, and especially after Pentecost. The Apostles, who were so faint-hearted at the time of the Passion, are now filled with the Holy Spirit and they speak publicly and forcefully in the name of Jesus, and perform miracles in his name. When they are forbidden to do so, they simply reply that they must obey God rather than men.
It is interesting to note that the high priest and the Sanhedrin, when they summon the Apostles, never mention the name of Jesus. After Peter and John had healed the paralysed man, they were asked by whom and by what power they had done this. The Apostles replied that it was in the name of Jesus, the Nazarene, whom they had crucified and whom the Father had raised from the dead. But the high priests and scribes never use the name of Jesus. They simply forbid the Apostles to teach in that name, and they speak of ‘this man’, but they never mention his name. Why this refusal to use the name of Jesus? I don't think it was a question of contempt or disrespect. It was probably more a question of fear or apprehension on their part. There is power in a name. And when you use that name you don't know what might happen. They don't want to believe in Jesus; but they are not absolutely sure that he is not from God.
What is a name? In all ancient cultures, including that of Israel, as in many cultures even today, the name is not simply a label that is put on a person to identify them. It is not a simple sign of identification. It is something that expresses the very nature, the very identity of the person. This name is therefore rarely used. In Ashanti culture, in Ghana, for example, the name given to a child at birth, which is often that of an ancestor, conditions the child's entire existence. It is something sacred, in a way, and this name will very rarely be used. In everyday life, other names are used, corresponding, for example, to the day of the week on which the person was born or to their rank in the family.
In the Bible, when Moses is given the mission to free his people, he wants to know ‘in what name’ he will do this. He knows that the people will ask him: ‘In what name do you do this?’ Likewise, the Scribes and Doctors of the Law, in the Gospel, ask Jesus in what name he performs his miracles. They cannot deny the miracles, which are obvious, but they want to know from whom Jesus receives the power to perform them. As for Moses, he receives a mysterious answer which is, as we know, the name of Yahweh, which is not simply the name of God, but the name above all names, The Name par excellence, the name in which all power resides.
In his Letter to the Philippians, Saint Paul speaks of Jesus who became obedient unto death, even death on a cross – and so God exalted him and gave him the ‘name’ that is above every other name, that is, the name of Kurios, the name of Yahweh.
To act in the name of a person is to use that person's power, it is to participate in his identity. It is, in a way, to be transformed into that person. When Peter, a few days after Pentecost, meets a crippled beggar, he says to him: ‘I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus, take up your bed and walk.’ By the power of this name of Jesus, the beggar was healed. And that is why the high priest wanted to stop the Apostles from acting in “that name”.
But since ‘this’ name has become ‘their’ name, because they have been transformed by acting and preaching in the name of Jesus, the Apostles can no longer refrain from doing so. It would be to be stripped of their own identity. And when they are beaten with whips, they leave the Sanhedrin filled with joy at having been judged worthy of mistreatment for the sake of this Name.
When we celebrate the liturgy, it is in this name of Jesus that we gather. Jesus said: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ and again: ‘Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give you.’ He is therefore among us at this very moment. He is the one who makes us all a community. In his name, let us pray for one another and for all of humanity. Let us ask him for the courage to speak in his name, and even to suffer if necessary, for ‘The name’ which is both his and that of his Father.
Armand Veilleux