What’s In A Name: Homily for the 4th Sunday of Advent 2025

4^th Sunday of Advent, A                                                                  December 21, 2025
Fr. Alexander Albert                                                            St. Mary Magdalen, Abbeville

Myth. Legend. Liar. Lunatic. The cause of wars. The symbol of oppression, hatred, and discrimination. The angry judge. The source of guilt and repression. The role model. The teacher. The nice guy. The Lord. The Savior… When you call upon Jesus, when you think or speak of him, how do you name him? Because everyone of those titles, every one of those “names” has been applied to Jesus of Nazareth. But this is not a sociological question. It is a personal one. What do you name him?

Saint Joseph has the special privilege of actually naming him. Why Jesus? “Because he will save his people from their sins.” Jesus, from the Hebrew Yeshua or Joshua, literally means “God saves.” But a name can go further than sounds. My name is Alexander, but some name me friend, brother, uncle. The bishop named me father and pastor. Think of knighthood: “I dub thee sir…” To “dub” is to “name.” A name can be a way of identifying who or what that person is to me and to the world.

So, how do you name Jesus? This an eternally important question because the angel says “he will save his people from their sins.” The salvation of Jesus is offered to all human beings, but that salvation is only efficacious, only effective for those who belong to him… who name him their Lord and Savior. It’s no linguistic trick, either. It’s no magical formula: “I name Jesus my Lord and Savior.” That naming must express a lived reality for it to truly matter.

Our psalm repeatedly exhorts us “let the Lord enter.” Why? Because we so often refuse to let him into our lives. Some falsely believe Christianity has brought nothing but war and division into the world. Others see faith in Jesus as opposed to the progress of science and society. Still others feel rejected or oppressed by a teacher who demands we deny a whole array of feelings and desires we’d rather indulge. To name Jesus “Lord” is as demanding as it sounds. It requires the “obedience of faith” Paul speaks of in our second reading.

Faith sounds pleasant: trust a loving God? Sure! Christmas is a time of joy and hope and peace. God became man because he loves me? Awesome! We share sweet stories about a baby and gifts and shepherds and kings and animals in the manger. What’s not to love? If calling Jesus “Lord” is more of what Christmas feels like, who would object?

Only, we know it isn’t all peace and festivity. Our first reading depicts the King of Judah, Ahaz. He is a direct descendant of King David to whom God promised an everlasting dynasty. Yet, when a prophet demands he ask for a sign, he refuses. Ahaz doesn’t want a sign from God. King Ahaz wants a political alliance because he gets political alliances. King Ahaz understands how a big military can save his kingdom. He’s afraid that, if he listens to this prophet, God will ask him not to form the alliance, not to trust the military. If he gets a miraculous sign from God, he’ll have no excuses to avoid putting his trust in God. Too bad. “Must you weary my God? Therefore the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall name him Emmanuel.” Ahaz may not be willing to follow God, but God saves us anyway. God himself comes as a little child 700 years later.

And the birth of that child on Christmas – like the birth of any child – demanded much of his parents before, during, and after. Joseph is a righteous man. He has faith, but that faith takes on a new dimension when his wife turns up pregnant, seemingly by a miracle. Mary agreed to be the mother of God without asking Joseph her husband first. He was already legally betrothed to her, so her decision affects the rest of his life. Suddenly, faith in the God of his ancestors… the God who delivered them from Egypt and made promises to David becomes the God who expects Joseph personally to trust him. What sort of doubts plagued Joseph’s mind? What must it be like to think: “wait, I’m supposed to live with the woman pregnant with God’s own child?” Maybe Joseph suspected Mary of lying. Maybe he believed her but felt unworthy of being foster father to God incarnate. Maybe he, like all people, had mixed motives and uncertain ideas but figured a quiet divorce was the best way out regardless. Then a literal angel of God cuts off his only escape route, making the “obedience of faith” very very real.

The angel dispels his doubt – it is God’s child. He dismisses his fear: “do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.” Then he seals it by designating him the legal father: “you are to name him Jesus.” Joseph obeys and it costs him. Caring for a pregnant wife on a journey, fleeing to Egypt, losing this special child in the temple for three days… His faith becomes obedience. He names the child Jesus. He names Jesus his son. Most importantly, he names Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

That is what Christmas is about. It is the time to go with Joseph and Mary on this journey of faith, to accept things beyond our understanding, and to name Jesus our savior, proving it in the obedience of faith, obedience to God and his messengers.

“Let the Lord enter” your life not just in name, but in truth. What prevents you from doing so? Is it shame? The disbelief that God would name himself “God with us” and include you in that? Jesus’ name means he will save his people from their sins. It doesn’t mean we have to be without sin first. You don’t need to be worthy of him first. You only have to accept him into your life as Joseph accepted him into his home. Let Mary help you to accept him. Then Jesus will make you worthy.

“Let the Lord enter.” Is it suspicion that stops you? To outside eyes, it certainly looked like Mary was unfaithful to Joseph. To many outside the Church… and even to some within the church, the Catholic Faith can certainly look wicked or unfaithful or oppressive. Perceptions can be misleading. Men and women in the Church often are unfaithful; many wicked things have been done while falsely claiming the sanction of Jesus Christ. No one had ever been a virgin mother, but Mary really was the exception. No earthly power can guarantee the truth goes uncorrupted, and yet the teachings of the Catholic Church really are true and good and beautiful and incorruptible despite the sins of its leaders. Many wives have been unfaithful to their husbands, but Mary was not. Many religions are false and destructive, but Catholicism is not. If you are righteous enough to genuinely want the truth, God will provide ways for you to see that truth despite the appearances just as he sent an angel to guide Joseph.

“Let the Lord enter.” Is it self-reliance that stops you? Like Ahaz, would you rather count on the things you know than on the seemingly impossible requirements of faith in an invisible God? Then look again at the story of Ahaz. Ahaz stays king in Judah, sure, but he ends up a vassal to Assyria and his own people in northern Israel are conquered and destroyed. He even gets so desperate that he winds up sacrificing one of his own children to a pagan god. Counting on ourselves instead of God might give us short-term success, but always makes us complicit in evil and twists us into wicked men. King Ahaz died a hated failure. Joseph died in secret, but now he lives with God and is called a saint. If you’d rather be with Joseph than Ahaz, trust in God more than in yourself.

Do not let shame or fear rule over you. Do not let suspicion restrain you. Do not let self-reliance blind you. Instead, “let the Lord enter; he is the king of glory.” Not only that, he is Emmanuel – God with us – and if we name him our Lord, our King… if we let him claim us as his own, he will save us.