If you lost sleep last night wondering why the Israelites
couldn’t eat the sciatic muscle of an animal, there’s your answer. What is the sciatic muscle, anyway?
We
hear another story of a name change in the Scriptures. Jacob receives the name Israel as he
strove with God and man. This
name, and person, is important in salvation history because it is from
Jacob/Israel that the twelve patriarchs come.
One
of our former parishioners received a new name last week. Megan Crain, who finished her first
year with the Handmaids in New Ulm, received the name Sr. Amata Mariae—Mary loved. I love the tradition in religious communities of receiving a
new name to symbolize a new state in life.
We
priests don’t get a new name, but we do take on the title Father. After a year,
it now sounds natural to hear my name called—Father Ben. And I love
hearing myself called this, not because I am better or more holy than anyone,
but because God chose me to live in a new way as a priest. Some people shy away from calling
priests Father but know it is helpful
for me to be addressed in this way. Whenever
I hear myself called Father I receive
a simple reminder of my call in life.
And
we must not forget each of us have received a Baptismal name to reflect our new relationship with God and His Church. In fact, this is part of the Rite of
Baptism as the priest or deacon asks, “What name do you give this child?” These names don’t stand out too much in
our culture, as many of our birth names are Christian names. Yet in other cultures, Christian names
stand out as a witness to a different sort of person.
As
names signify a different state of life, we pray that we may live up to the
calling God has given each of us.
May we act as men and women in love with the Lord.
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