Pause for... Jesus

"The most powerful name. The most loving name. The most joyful name. The name that brings the most peace. This name is Jesus. In Hebrew, Jesus means "God saves." He is known as the Messiah, as Emmanuel, as The Almighty. He is the son of God. The Holy name of Jesus demands reverence.

When praying the Hail Mary, all too often people rush through the name of Jesus. The Hail Mary needs a pause. My dad taught me a trick that I would like to share with you.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, ((pause)) JESUS. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

The Hail Mary is prayed 53 times in the Holy Rosary. When you pause for Jesus during each of these Hail Mary's, you bring reverence and respect to the name of Jesus. When you meditate on the name of Jesus, what do you discover? Do you discover forgiveness and compassion? Does the name bring you a sense of overwhelming peace? Do you find yourself in awe at the glory of Christ? Can you find His radiant love?

It never ceases to amaze me that God would send His only Son to save us from our sins and then allow that Son to die on the Cross and open the gates of Heaven. Jesus has two natures: a human nature and a divine nature. When Mary said, "yes" and consented to be Jesus' mother, she was instrumental in bringing about Jesus' human nature. I will go into more detail about the impact of Mary's "yes" in another post. The Divine nature of Jesus came to be because He is the Son of God. I am only touching on Jesus' two natures right now. This topic begs for a much deeper conversation.

Pause. Reflect. Meditate on the love of Jesus!

"Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?" - Saint Gerard Majella