Fourth Sunday of Easter
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
1 Peter 2:20b-25
John 10:1-10
“A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This oft-quoted line is often cited to indicate that what matters is what something is, not what it is called. Though that is true on the deepest level, we don’t live on that level. Names are important to us.
When Marty was only four he knew the importance of a name. “Marty,” he would tell us, is his “love name” and Martin Joseph was what Mommy called him when he was in trouble. Jesus, he would say, was God’s “love name.”
There was a time when those who had no relationship with us called us by our surnames. Our increasingly casual culture has changed that. Even the clerk at the checkout counter in Safeway calls us by our given name. Those who are accustomed to the more formal customs of other countries (and parts of the United States) are frequently uncomfortable with the situation.
While this might be troubling to some, I am always delighted when I call a parish and identify myself as “Mary Jo” and the priest doesn’t ask, “Mary Jo who?” Those who call me by my given name have a special claim on my service and even on my affections and surely those in the Church have that claim. Still, those of us who pay attention to such things know that how our name is said is as important as what name is used. Researchers tell us that a child learns a “prayer voice” by hearing his mother utter his name. While today the use of a person’s given name does not necessarily indicate a relationship of friendship or intimacy, the tone does.
Today’s Gospel tells us that the sheep recognizes the shepherd’s voice calling his name. Jesus was pointing to a relationship of trust and power that is two-fold. The shepherd calls and the sheep respond.
From childhood we have been taught that God calls us by name. He knows us. His reaction will never be “Who?” More awe-inspiring than that is the fact that the Father has so revealed himself in Jesus that he has given us the power to call on him and to identify him with a name, Jesus. Christianity is a relationship in which both Jesus and the individual Christian have the power to call one another by name.
Easter time is a celebration of the powerful presence of the Risen Lord in our lives. The Lord we call on is ever with us. The Jesus who was the “man for others” is more profoundly he who is with us. This is a gift that enlivens our faith and our lives. When we hear this, we are deeply shaken like those first followers. We are moved to celebrate and give thanks.
