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Psalm 113

 

Scripture and the Most Holy Name

When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Mark 10:47  and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!" Luke 17:13

Each of these passages indicate a use of Jesus name to attract his attention successfully and obtain his help. It would make sense to use the same prayer ourselves. In Luke 18:38 note how the blind man was persistent. The other people couldn't keep him quiet.

When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by."   He called out, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!"    Those who led the way rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" Luke 18:36-39

This fits the story in Luke 18:1-8. 

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'

"For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' "

And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the  earth?"

Also notice the prayer in Luke 18:9-14 - the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: "Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

14"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

This has been adapted in tradition by adding the Name of Jesus to the start of the prayer: "Jesus, Lord, have mercy on me a sinner" which has become known as the Jesus Prayer.

 

 

 
 

Archdiocesan Association of Holy Name Societies
Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

info@nomensanctum.org