Top Five Reasons to Confess your Sins to a Priest
20 Names for Jesus at Mass
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We can learn much about Jesus simply by paying attention to what we call Him at Mass. Some of these are pretty basic, others are more rich and poetic. Toward the end of the Mass near Communion, we use sacrificial language. Here are 20 names and titles we say and hear every Sinday that tell us about who Jesus is and what he does for us, the Church, His Bride in the Eucharist.
1. The Son
Used in the Sign of the Cross: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus is the second Person of the Holy Trinity. Jesus is the Son of God the Father.He is begotten not made, one in being with the Father. He is eternal and sits at the right hand of the Father with the Holy Spirit (CCC 441-445).
2. Our Lord
Used in the Greeting: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Because the name of God was considered too holy to speak aloud, the Jews used the word Adonai as a substitute which, in Hebrew means Lord. The title of Lord was given to Jesus. In the Greek language it is ‘Kyrios’. This title was usually reserved for kings and emperors by the secular world (CCC 446-45).
3. Jesus
Uned in the Greeting: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
The name Jesus means God-saves (Ye-Shua). At the name of Jesus every knee shall bend. His name is above all other names because it reveals his identity as God the Savior (CCC 430-435).
4. Christ
Used in the Greeting: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit e with you all.
The title 'Christ' comes to us from the Greek word christos which means anointed one. Jesus, as Messiah, is the Anointed One, anointed by the Holy Spirit to fulfill his mission (CCC 436-440).
5. Only Begotten Son
Used in the Gloria:Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father
Jesus is begotten not created or adopted. When we, creatures, are baptized we become adopted sons or daughters in Christ because he is the Only Begotten Son..By uniting to and sharing in his sonship we too can be called children of God (CCC 441-445).
6. Lamb of God
Used in the Gloria:Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father
Jesus is the Lamb of God because, as a sacrificial victim, he fulfills all of the lamb imagery in the Old Testament especially the Passover lamb.Jesus is the Lamb whose blood frees us from sin and whose flesh we consume (CCC 608, 523, 536).
7. The Holy One
Used in the Gloria: For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ
Jesus is set apart with a mission of salvation. He is the Holy One, because there is no other who brings salvation to the world. (CCC 2012-2016).
8. The Most High
Used in the Gloria: For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ
Jesus has ascended to his Father in heaven He is exalted and seated on a throne in heaven with the Father. He is crowned as King and Lord of all (CCC 75, 1544).
9. God from God
Used in The Creed:“...one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God”
Jesus is the second Person of the Holy Trinity. He is 100% divine as well as 100% human. His divine nature is shared with the Father and the Holy Spirit (CCC 238-242, 464-469).
10. Light from Light
Used in the The Creed: one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God
Jesus is of the same nature or substance as the Father. This nature and substance is illuminative, glorious radiant. Jesus is light because he draws us close to him in warmth and reveals the truth by dispelling the darkness of evil and of sin. (CCC 257)
11. Pure, Holy, and Spotless Victim
Used in the Anamnesis:Therefore, O Lord, as we celebrate the memorial of the blessed Passion, the Resurrection from the dead, and the glorious Ascension into heaven of Christ, your Son, our Lord, we, your servants and your holy people, offer to your glorious majesty from the gifts that you have given us, this pure victim, this holy victim, this spotless victim, the holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.
As an offering to God the Father, Jesus, unlike other offerings, is pure and spotless since he is without sin. Jesus fulfills the sacrifice of the Passover lamb which was ‘unblemished’ (CCC 1365-1368).
12. God of hosts
Used in the Holy. Holy, Holy (Sanctus): Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
Jesus is the commander of an angel army. He is full of power and might. He comes to battle evil and he is a victorious Lion (CCC 269).
13. He who comes in the Name of the Lord
Used in the Holy, Holy. Holy (Sanctus): Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts. Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest.Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.Hosanna in the highest.
Jesus is a sacrament of God the Father. He comes as a divine ambassador of God the Father. His Name is holy as the Name of the Father and Holy Spirit is holy (CCC 433, 2142-2149).
14. The Savior
Used in the Eucharistic Prayer I Christmas Octave: Celebrating the most sacred night (day) when blessed Mary the immaculate Virgin brought forth the Savior for this world.
Jesus saves us from sin, from death from alienation and separation from God the Father. He saves us from all physical, psychological and spiritual maladies (CCC 430-435).
15. Holy Bread, Chalice of Everlasting Salvation
Used in Eucharistic Prayer I: Therefore, O Lord, this pure victim, this holy victim, this spotless victim, the holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.
Jesus called himself bread from heaven and he gave us his body and blood in the Eucharist which he said was the source of salvation and eternal life. “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (Jn 6:53-54) (CCC 1333-1344).
16. The Fount of all Holiness
Used in Eucharitic Prayer II: You are indeed Holy, O Lord, the fount of all holiness.
Christ pours out his grace on us, like an unending, inexhaustible fountain, empowering us to grow in our relationship with him (CCC 2012-2015).
17. Word of God
Used in Eucharistic Prayer II: It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Father most holy, through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, your Word through whom you made all things, whom you sent as our Savior and Redeemer, incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin.
The Gospel of John begins with the declaration that the Word of God became flesh. Jesus is the Word or Logos pre-existent through whom all things were made according to the plan of God (CCC 101-104).
18. Redeemer
Used in Eucharistic Prayer II: It is truly right and just, our duty and salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks, Father most holy, through your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, your Word through whom you made all things, whom you sent as our Savior and Redeemer, incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin.
Jesus redeems humanity from the bondage of our sins and the debt owed to God because of sin. Jesus reverses the sin problem in our lives and offers us reconciliation, sanctification and ultimately salvation (CCC 963, 1987-1995).
19. Sacrificial Victim
Used in Eucharistic Prayer III: Look, we pray, upon the oblation of your Church and, recognizing the sacrificial Victim by whose death you willed to reconcile us to yourself
Jesus acted as both priest and sacrificial victim, offering himself on the cross and in the Eucharist in order to reconcile us to God the Father (CCC 1365-1368).
20. Living Sacrifice
Used in Eucharistic Prayer III:we offer you in thanksgiving this holy and living sacrifice
Jesus is the living sacrifice because by the power of his love, he defeated death. His love, which is unending, is offered eternally on our behalf. It is the resurrected, living Body of Christ that we receive in the Eucharist, not his corpse (CCC 218-221, 1109, 2031).
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About the Author
I am a life-long Catholic, husband, dad, teacher and former football coach. I've been teaching the Catholic Faith to young men, religious educators and catechists since 1998. My academic background, MA is in Theology and Catechetics. I am the creator of www.apexcatechetics.com, the home of high quality catechetical resources for those who teach the Catholic Faith.
