I can’t get used to the name “Jesus”.with an accent over the “u”,so popular among Mexicans. Even as a Sicilian/American/Catholic, I find it strange.

Now, we’ve managed to resurrect every obscure saint, male or female, that ever existed and baptize our babies in their names.
Sometimes,the girls have some form of Mary; Mary Jo, Mary Anne, Maria Theresa. The boys are often Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John with Joseph and Anthony thrown in for good measure. But no matter how many kids you have, depending on the efficiency of the Church’s birth control method (the ultimate oxymoron, resulting in families with kids born nine months and ten minutes apart) we’ve never run so short of names as to use the Lord’s.

But the Mexicans (perhaps they’re more Catholic than the Italians?) use it even in the feminine form, Jesusa, and the diminutive, Jesusito. A very dedicated priest I know, from Sonora, Mexico, is Padre Jesus. Was his vocation predestined by his name, or just a serendipitous coincident? Quien sabe?

At the Dollar Store in a small Texas border town, a young employee wore a tag that read “Always Here to Serve You–Jesus”. (no accent over the “u”) It was startling to say the least. This kid looked like he’d be hard-pressed to direct us to the laundry soap aisle, let alone our divine reward. But he most likely had more job security than employees named Cody or Travis. After all, how do you fire someone named Jesus?

Last year, a relative sent me a postcard from her Florida vacation. “Outside Orlando we visited Jesus…” A tent revival, I wondered? Nope. It went on to say …”and Berta and Diana.” Friends of ours. She forgot the accent over the “u”.

When I inherited a company cell phone from a seasonal employee, the display read “a message for Jesus”–no accent. Had lots of fun with that phone. Jesus received messages like:

The spare tire is fixed, come pick it up,

Do you want to see the new movie at the Regal? It’s a steamy one,

And my personal favorite,

Can you bring the wine for dinner on Sunday?

Perhaps the best way to handle this dilemma of the accent over the “u” is to change the spelling altogether. In the old TV series “Rawhide,” starring a very young Clint Eastwood, the wrangler of the remuda was a Mexican fellow named Hay Soos.

No “u”.

No accent.

No problema.