Out of respect for the holiness of God, the people of Israel do not pronounce His name. In the
reading of Sacred Scripture, the revealed name (Yhwh) is replaced by the divine title "Lord"
(in Hebrew Adonai, in Greek Kyrios). It is under this title that the divinity of Jesus will be
acclaimed: "Jesus is Lord." The New Testament uses this full sense of the title "Lord" both for
the Father and -- what is new -- for Jesus, who is thereby recognized as God Himself.
     Jesus ascribes this title to Himself in a veiled way when He disputes with the Pharisees
about the meaning of Psalm, but also in an explicit way when He addresses His apostles.
Throughout His public life, He demonstrated His divine sovereignty by works of power over
nature, illnesses, demons, death and sin.

     Very often in the Gospels people address Jesus as "Lord." This title testifies to the respect
and trust of those who approach Him for help and healing. At the prompting of the Holy Spirit,
"Lord" expresses the recognition of the divine mystery of Jesus. In the encounter with the risen
Jesus, this title becomes adoration. "My Lord and my God!" It thus takes on a connotation of
love and affection that remains proper to the Christian tradition. "It is the Lord!"

     By attributing to Jesus the divine title "Lord," the first confessions of the Church's faith
affirm from the beginning that the power, honor, and glory due to God the Father are due also to
Jesus, because "He was in the form of God and the Father manifested the sovereignty of Jesus
by raising Him from the dead and exalting Him into His glory."

     From the beginning of Christian history, the assertion of Christ" lordship over the world and
over history has implicitly recognized that man should not submit his personal freedom in an
absolute manner to any earthly power but only to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
Caesar is not "the Lord." The Church -- believes that the key, the center, and purpose of the
whole of man's history is to be found in its Lord and Maker."

     Christian prayer is characterized by the title "Lord,"whether in the invitation to prayer ("The
Lord be with You."), its conclusion: ("through Christ our Lord"), or the exclamation full of
trust and hope, Maran atha ("Our Lord, come"), or Marana tha ("Come, Lord!") -- "Amen,
Come, Lord Jesus!"

     The title "Lord" indicates divine sovereignty. To confess or invoke Jesus as Lord is to
believe in His divinity. "no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy 'Spirit."