It has become very common for us to use the Holy Name of Jesus in our conversation, perhaps in a desire to profess or to experience an intimacy with Him. But have we lost something by not speaking of Him as Our Lord? The noble-sounding designations of ‘Our Lord’ and ‘Our Lady’, or better still “Our Blessed Lord” and “Our Blessed Lady”, convey a dignity that simple use of the Holy Name does not.
Interestingly, the Gospels use the Holy Name of Jesus frequently, but their purpose is to introduce His life and ministry to the world, whereas the Epistles, written to those who already know the Lord, tend to make use of the titles “Lord” and “Christ”. Is there not something to be learned from this? As we celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee I wonder how many of us would address her as Elizabeth. I suspect that not even the Prime Minister does that, yet we approach the King of kings and Lord of lords, we draw near to the Queen of Heaven and of Earth, without the respect we give to mere earthly royalty.
It is not that we should avoid the intimate, family names of Jesus and Mary on every occassion, but a recovery of their titles as the greatest dignitaries in creation would surely not go amiss. In fact, if we are to claim that we have Jesus as “The Lord of my life”, should we not refer to Him as such? After all, He is ‘Jesus’ to all and sundry, and often in a most blasphemous manner; to us He is Lord –Our Blessed Lord, and His Mother our Blessed Mother. Can we not recover use of these pleasing and accurate titles?
I have never been one for coarse language but I hear it often enough. If you will excuse the word on this occasion it seems commonplace to use 'bloody' in many a sentence but not in referring to a situation where blood is involved. Some years ago I read that it is a corruption/diminution of the mediaeval expression of 'By Our Lady'. Since then I have had an even greater aversion to it, and wince whenever I hear priests use the word.
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