December
2009 - Vol. 35
.
The
Name Jesus
Excerpted
from Alfred Delp's diary entry,
January
1, 1945
Jesus. The name of our Lord and of my Order [The Society
of Jesus] shall be the first word I write in the New Year. The name stands
for all the things I desire when I pray, believe and hope; for inner and
outer redemption; for relaxation of all the selfish tensions and limitations
I place in the way of the free dialogue with God, all the barriers to voluntary
partnership and surrender without reserve: and for a speedy release from
these horrible fetters. The whole situation is so palpably unjust; things
I have neither done nor even known about are keeping me here in prison.
"
The name Jesus stands also for all that I intended to do in the world,
and still hope to do among mankind. To save, to stand by ready to give
immediate help, to have goodwill towards all men, and to serve them. I
still owe much to so many.
And in conclusion the Order, too, is embraced in my invocation of this
name - the Order which has admitted me to its membership. May it be personified
in me. I have pledged myself to Jesus as his loving comrade and blood-brother.
The Name stands for passionate faith, submission, selfless effort and
service.
Go
to next meditation > No
Death Can Kill Us
Return to Joy
in the Face of Death - Alfred Delp S.J., by Jeanne Kun, with excerpts
from the book, Even Unto Death: Wisdom from Modern Martyrs, edited by
Jeanne Kun, The Word Among Us Press, © 2002. All rights reserved.
Used with permission. The book can be ordered from WAU
Press. |
Commemorative
stamp in honor of Delp, Germany, 1964
A selection
of
meditations
for
Advent
written
by Alfred Delp while in prison
>
The
People of Advent
>
True
Happiness
>
God
Alone Suffices
>
The
name Jesus
>
No
Death Can Kill Us
>
Aim
at Heaven with All your Strength
>
I
Must Take the Other Road
[Selection
from The Prison Meditations of Father Alfred Delp, with an Introduction
by Thomas Merton (New York: Herder and Herder, 1963)]
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