Faces and Names

Seeing and serving Jesus in everyone we meet

04/07/2021

John 20:11-18 Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are  you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he had told her.

Remembering people’s names is a very important skill for priests and preachers. Why? Well, it makes people feel loved and cared for, as well as making people feeling close to the minister and the minister close to them. But it can be hard to remember thousands of people’s names, like here at Immaculate Conception, where we have over 6,000 parishioners.

I had a friend in the seminary who went to great lengths to remember people’s names and he learned all kinds of elaborate name-association techniques that would trigger his recollection. His association techniques usually related to people’s facial features, like their eyes, nose, lips, etc. Now with everyone wearing masks in church, many of those facial features are hidden. You all look the same to me now! It’s like we say about people from another country: all those Indians look the same!

In the gospel today Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene and she has trouble remembering Jesus’ name and identity, almost as if he were wearing a mask. Indeed, she mistook him for the gardener. Maybe Mary thought that all gardeners looked the same: “Eh, he’s just another gardener; they all look alike!” But after Jesus says her name, “Mary,” she remembers his name and calls him “Rabbouni,” which is another form of “Rabbi,” or teacher. Somehow Jesus’ resurrection has not only revealed his identity as the Son of God; it has also concealed his identity as simply a Jewish rabbi. In other words, Jesus has become both easier and harder to recognize. And I believe that is both deliberate and decisive: it teaches us something crucial about Christianity. What do I mean?

In Luke 24 two disciples are on the road to Emmaus and they do not recognize Jesus who walks and talks with them for nearly 7 miles. But then their eyes are opened in the “breaking of the bread” (Bible code-language for the Eucharist). At first, they thought he was just another visitor to Jerusalem; and all those foreigners look the same! In Acts 9 Saul the Pharisee encounters the Risen Jesus on the road to Damascus and asks, “Who are you, sir?” And Jesus replies, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” Consequently, Saul was blind for 3 days, but when he opened his eyes he could see Jesus in all Christians. But before that encounter, Saul would have said, “Ah, that is just another Christian; they all look alike!” In other words, Jesus is present in each person, especially in every Christian.

And in Mt. 25, in the dramatic Final Judgment scene where Jesus separates all humanity into the sheep and the goats, into the blessed and the condemned, what causes you to end up in one category rather than the other? Jesus explains: “Whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.” That is, the saved will be those who see and serve Jesus in the poor. The resurrection, therefore, has revealed Jesus’ glory and identity, but it has also concealed his Presence in the Eucharist, in the Church (in individual Christians), and in the poor. Jesus will be more easy to see and recognize (because he will be everywhere), but also harder to spot and pick out because he will be incognito.

My friends, do you have a job or responsibility that requires you to remember a lot of people’s names? Not only pastors but also teachers who have lots of students’ names to remember and new students every year; but also leaders of church ministries with many members (like the I.C. Ladies Auxiliary), or even some families that have so many uncles and aunts, cousins and in-laws, like the Siebenmorgen’s, Seiter’s and Sanchez’s. It is certainly a good thing to do like my friend in the seminary and learn everyone’s names. It will help you to feel close to them and for them to feel close to you, and you will be a better leader.

Nonetheless, I am convinced there is a deeper identity in each person, namely, Jesus is in them. That is, even if we cannot remember someone’s name, be careful not to write them off or dismiss them by thoughts like “Ah, he’s just the gardener,” or “All those Indians look the same.” Each person is a unique and unrepeatable child of God, and even if you cannot remember their name, at least remember Jesus is in them. Even if you forget the name Maestri, or Martinez, or McNally, just remember the name “Jesus.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!