Stone and Name

Learning how God bestows a name upon us

06/24/2023

Lk 1:57-66, 80 When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her, and they rejoiced with her. When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child, they were going to call him Zechariah after his father, but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.” But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called. He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed. Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. Then fear came upon all their neighbors, and all these matters were discussed throughout the hill country of Judea. All who heard these things took them to heart, saying, “What, then, will this child be?” For surely the hand of the Lord was with him. The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the desert until the day of his manifestation to Israel.

One of the most important decisions a father and mother will make is the choice of their child’s name. Why is that? Because children will carry on the family legacy and their name will forever be attached to that legacy. The first time I learned that names carry the family reputation and legacy was watching Gilligan’s Island. Remember that great television show?

One of the super wealthy characters was Thurston Howell III. He was the third generation of Thurstons to carry that name and he did so with great pride and often some arrogance because he refused to work on the island like everyone else. It is very likely Thurston would have bestowed his own name on his son, making him Thurston Howell IV. In this way, a name can transcend an individual and become almost timeless as the family lives on in each generation.

This is part of the controversy around naming John the Baptist in the gospel today. Male Jewish boys were circumcised on the eighth day after their birth and that was when the parents bestowed their name. Apparently, the neighbors of Zechariah and Elizabeth had been watching Gilligan’s Island, too, because they object to Elizabeth naming her son John. Why? They argue: “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.” In other words, this baby boys should carry on the family legacy by having his father’s name.

At that point Zechariah makes signs to indicate that he agrees with his wife to call him John. And as if to show that God agreed, too, Zechariah’s tongue is loosed and he is able to speak again. Notice how his obedience to his wife healed him of his disobedience to God. Remember that, gentlemen. In other words, the name John would help this little boy to transcend time because it was given by God through an angel, and that is a far greater treasure than the wealth of Thurston Howell III.

My friends, we often have different names over the course of our life, besides the name that our parents pick with tenderness and care. Sometimes when a woman marries, she begins to use her husband’s last name. Although hyphenated last names are becoming more common. When a man or woman joins a religious order by becoming a monk or nun, they take a new name when they make their solemn vows.

You may recall Sr. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face, more commonly called The Little Flower. When a cardinal is elected as pope, he takes a new name, like John Paul II, Benedict XVI, or Francis. All these choices of names carry powerful significance and deep symbolism. They are not chosen lightly but try to approximate what God might name us, like he named John in the gospel today.

But did you know that besides all these earthly names you may carry, you will also be given a new name in heaven? We read in Rv 2:17, “To the victor I shall give some of the hidden manna (that is the Eucharist). I shall also give a white stone upon which is inscribed a new name.” George MacDonald, the great Scottish Presbyterian minister who inspired C. S. Lewis, explained the significance of the white stone and new name.

He wrote in his sermons: “The giving of the white stone and the new name is the communication of what God thinks about the name to the man. It is the divine judgment. The true name is one which expresses the character, the nature, the meaning of the person who bears it. It is the man’s own symbol, the sign which belongs to him and to no one else.”

In other words, only when we get to heaven will we finally receive our real name – the name God chooses for us like he chose the name John the Baptist – and only then will we know who we truly are. Until then, we remain a mystery to ourselves, no matter how many generations of sons bear the name Thurston Howell.

Praised be Jesus Christ!