Sadhana, Anthony de Mello
The recitation of Jesus’ name brings us the forgiveness of all our sins.
There is a story in India of a king who had murdered his brothers and then, in a mood of repentance, went to a saintly hermit in search of penance and forgiveness. The hermit was away when the king arrived. One of the hermit’s disciples took it upon himself to give the king his penance. He said, “Recite the name of God three times and all your sins will be forgiven.”
When the hermit returned and found out what his disciple had done he was indignant. He said to his disciple, “Don’t you know that if you lovingly pronounce the name of God just once it is enough to wash away the sins of a whole kingdom? Then how did you dare tell the king to recite God’s name three times? Are you so totally lacking in faith in the power of God’s name?”