Reading and meditation on the Word of God on Saturday of the sixth week of Easter, May 16th, 2026

Delivered by Vannesa Anggono from the Parish of Saint Mary Church Cadogan Street London, in the Diocese of Westminster, United Kingdom. Acts of the Apostles 18: 23-28; Rs psalm 47: 2-3.8-9.10; John 16: 23b-28.USING THE NAME OF JESUS Our meditation today has the theme: Using the Name ofJesus. The parish Priest is a very special position and ministry for a priest.People often think that the so called "parish priest'srecommendation" is a very important means to make things done so easilyand problems get solved quickly. The parish priest's name and his signatureserve half of the work done and it is evident how people have great trust onthe authority of their shepherd, the parish priest. For example, someone wants to send his children to aCatholic school affiliated with the parish. Or people who look for jobs at acompany owned by a parishioner. They submit the required documents and bringwith them the letter from the parish priest which they believe can endorsetheir admission. They believe that the will of the parish priest will be thepriority. However, in other occasions people tend to use the name of theparish priest without his consent because they want to justify the argument or theaction they want to defend.  This is similar to the way we deal with our Father inheaven. We use the name of Jesus Christ to intercede all our requests to theFather. In fact, all our prayers end with this phrase: "through JesusChrist our Lord", which means we actually use the name of Jesus. We feelspecial and honored to use His name. And Jesus himself remains our true servanteven though He is the Lord and is united with the Father and the Holy Spirit inheaven. Does Jesus allow us to use His name? Certainly Hedoes. We know from the Gospel of John that we have just heard that JesusHimself asks us to always use His name, as He says: "Whatever you ask theFather in My name, will be given to you". Using the name of Jesus means wereally know and acknowledge Jesus correctly, so we believe that He will grantwhat we need. We are not supposed to simply take for granted ourduty to know and trust Him correctly and completely. Based on this principle, aperson named Apollos presented to us in the first reading today was given allthe explanations about the person of Jesus Christ. With this way it was hopedthat he could use the name of Jesus correctly in all his preaching activities.We also have responsibility to use the name of Jesus properly in true faith,because our aim is to glorify the Lord and to strengthen our faith. We must be able to avoid using Jesus' name in vain orprofane His divine dignity with any form of blasphemies. We must not use thename of Jesus to support all form of violence, evil or cruelty that are againsthumanity. We must also avoid replacing the name of Jesus with the names ofother saints like the Virgin Mary, Saint Joseph, apostles and many other,because the name the Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ is our only intercessorto God the Father.Let'spray. In the name of the Father ... O Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen our mindsand hearts to always use Your name properly every time we pray and ask theFather. May we faithfully keep your commandments and praise You through oursubmission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit now and for ever. Hail Mary fullof grace... In the name of the Father ...