Tuesday of Lent 1

[Jesus said,] “I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.” — John 17:9-11

The Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ brings glory to God’s holy name. During Holy Week, Jesus prayed, “Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose, I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name” (John 12:27-28a).

For this reason Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit; for this reason Jesus was born of the virgin Mary: to suffer and die on the cross at the hour appointed by the Father. By going to that hour humbly and willingly, Jesus glorified the name of God. And so a voice from heaven thundered in response to Jesus’ prayer, “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again” (John 12:28b).

By the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified we are kept in that same name. That name is graciously given to us in Holy Baptism, in which we are washed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. That name absolves us, pronouncing us forgiven of all our trespasses, through the mouths of our pastors. By that name Jesus’ prayer for his Christians is answered: we are one holy Christian and apostolic Church through faith in Christ Jesus.

In this Christian Church God’s name continues to be glorified when we confess Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Wherever this Gospel is taught in its truth and purity, and the Sacraments administered according to it, there God’s name is glorified, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Father, glorify Your name in the preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ crucified, for in Him alone we have life and salvation. Amen.?