Name that Child

Learning how our names carry the faith

03/20/2022

Ex 3:1-8, 13-15 Leading the flock across the desert, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. There an angel of the LORD appeared to Moses in fire flaming out of a bush. As he looked on, he was surprised to see that the bush, though on fire, was not consumed. So Moses decided, “I must go over to look at this remarkable sight, and see why the bush is not burned.” But the LORD said, “I have witnessed the affliction of my people in Egypt. Therefore I have come down lead them out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Moses said to God, “But when I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ if they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ what am I to tell them?” God replied, “I am who am.” Then he added, “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.” God spoke further to Moses, “Thus shall you say to the Israelites: The LORD, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. “This is my name forever; thus am I to be remembered through all generations.”

Choosing a child’s name is a very important responsibility for parents. But some parents pick the craziest names for their children lately. Have you noticed this? Here are a few of the funnier names I’ve heard. Some parents name their children “Starlette,” or “Snowdrop,” or “Pluto” (the Disney Dog), or “Alchemy,” what they called chemistry during the Middle Ages. A friend told me that the musician David Bowie and his ex-wife Mary Barnette named their son, “Zowie.” So, his name would be “Zowie Bowie.” But Zowie later changed his name to “Duncan.” Parents may think these names are cute, but their kids don’t.

Now I cannot really complain because we Indians have some funny names, too. For instance, those who come from my home state of Kerala often have a last name that sounds like a first name, for example, “John Antony.” When I introduce myself as “Fr. John Antony,” people ask: “And what is your last name?” I answer, “Antony.” And they say, “Yeah, I heard that, but what is your last name?” I reply, “I just told you, Antony.” They respond: “Yes, great name, but what’s your last name?” It’s like that Abbott and Costello baseball skit “Who’s on first?” I want to yell: “Antony is on first!”

But the real reason names are crucial is because they convey not only the love of our mother and father, but also their faith. Think about it: parents want to give their children the best that they have: the best food, the best clothing, the best home, the best friends, the best education, and so forth. But there is nothing more precious you can pass along to your progeny than your faith. Why? Well, because eventually everything else you give them fails and fades into nothing, but not the faith. Faith lasts forever.

A name, therefore, is a one-word summary of all the best things that parents want to give their children. When we give a child a name it should also include our faith. The reason my last name “Antony” is because it is actually my father’s first name. That is the way names work in Kerala, India. But I inherited not only my father’s name, but also his faith, which he taught me as a child. In carrying my father’s name, I also carry my father’s faith. The Catholic faith is the greatest gift my parents have given me.

In the first reading today, Moses meets God in the Sinai desert. Notice how God reveals his name to Moses, but it is not a normal name. God says: “This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM [Who Am] sent me to you.” Theologians and philosophers up and down the centuries have understood that mysterious moniker to mean that God towers above and beyond all names. He cannot be named like we name our children and our pets.

God did not remain entirely anonymous, however. He added very importantly: “Thus you shall say to the Israelites: The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob has sent me to you.” In other words, even though you may not know my name, Moses, remember your ancient fathers’ names, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And just as they walked by faith in me in the book of Genesis, so you will walk by faith in me throughout the book of Exodus. In a spiritual sense, because you carry your fathers’ names, so too, you carry your fathers’ faith. The best thing your fathers gave you, therefore, is not the Promised Land, flowing with milk and honey, but rather, their faith that will last a long longer than that land.

Another aspect of the Exodus story with relevance for us today is the fact that Moses is wandering in the desert when he comes upon God’s presence. You remember how Moses had fled from Pharaoh in fear, and now he finds himself a long way from home. In a sense, he has forgotten who he is, and his own Hebrew heritage, and especially his fathers' names, as well as their faith. After all, he is working for Jethro, a priest of Midian, a pagan priest.

Moses is spiritually lost, wandering like a tumbleweed rolling across the desert cut off from his roots and his religion. So, too, many young Catholics today find themselves in a spiritual desert, alienated from their roots and their religion. They have stopped going to Mass. They have forgotten their childhood faith that their mothers and fathers taught them. But can we blame them when we give them names like “Sassafras” and “Stardust”?

The good news, however, is that God finds us even in the desert of our lives. He is the burning bush that is constantly on fire but never extinguished. Like with Moses, he catches our curiosity, ignites our interests, and sets our faith on fire again. How so? Young Catholics in the desert encounter that burning bush when they meet a true Christian who loves and lives his or her faith. They meet the burning bush in the excitement of their own children getting ready for their first Holy Communion. They find the burning bush in their hearts in the silence, stillness and solitude of private prayer.

Even after their mother and father pass away, like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had died 430 years before Moses (Ex 12:40), their faith will light up the darkness like the miraculous bush on fire but never extinguished. Think about the name you give your child. It should contain a clue to the faith they inherited from you, like the last name they inherited from you conveys a clue to your own Catholic faith. That faith will sustain them long after everything else you give them (including yourselves) is but dust and ashes.

Praised be Jesus Christ!