Eight Things Catholics Love About the Name Jesus

1. What it means: Names in the Bible (semitic culture) reveal the identity and mission or purpose of the being. Jesus or ‘Yeshua’ means 'God Saves'. Ye = God and Shua = Saves.

2.  Where he got it:  “You shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins…” - Mt 1:21. At the annunciation, the angel Gabriel gave him the name Jesus as his proper name, which expresses both his identity and his mission.

3. It has enormous power: Our Lord Himself solemnly promises that whatever we ask the Father in His Name we shall receive - John 16:23-24. God never fails to keep His word.  For this reason, the Church ends her prayer with the words, "through Jesus Christ," which gives the prayer a new and Divine power or ‘In Jesus’s Name we pray". 

4. Embedded in the Hail Mary: The Hail Mary prayer reaches its zenith with the holy Name of Jesus… in the words "blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus." Jesus is embedded in the womb of the prayer as if in the womb of his mother. 

5. It is salvific: "There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.“ Acts 4:12;  9:14; Jas 2:7.

6. It is glorius: Jesus' resurrection glorifies the name of the Savior God as a "name which is above every name". Phil 2:9-10; Jn 12:28.

7. Demons hate it: “Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name” Mk 9:39.

8. It has been invoked as the final prayer of many Saints: Many Christians, such as St. Joan of Arc, have died with the one word "Jesus" on their lips. Joan learned of the method of her execution, she was distraught, telling her jailers that she would much rather be beheaded than burned, but no one was listening. Before her death, a guard of English soldiers, who laughed at her as she made her frantic, last minute prayers, surrounded the weeping Joan. One English soldier took pity on the nineteen-year-old girl and handed her a hastily made wooden cross moments before she was tied to the stake. She kissed it and put it into her bosom. During her burning, a Dominican friar consoled her by holding up a crucifix for her to gaze upon as she died. Even as she was burned, Joan did not recant. To the end, she continued to claim that the voices she had heard all her life were divine in nature. She called on her three favorite saints for help as she burned. Right before she lost consciousness, she yelled out: "Jesus!"