What's in a name? Actually, quite a lot. Recent studies have shown that parents who bestow odd, parochial or difficult names on their children hobble them for life. Those with strong male or female first names have a leg up in getting ahead in life. At one time given names had meaning, usually one was named for a beloved antecedent, liked a grandfather, uncle or aunt. Family names were often preserved as middle names. It would appear that many children are now given names consisting only of sound bytes and containing no meaning whatever.
Today's feast is called the Holy Name. In some parishes it is celebrated at the Solemnity of Mary, owning that when you are making a fresh start, it is always wise to check in straight away with Mom. Prior to the current prayer book, it was called feast of the Circumcision, because after eight days Jesus, like every Jewish newborn, was taken for the ancient Jewish rite and officially named. Early church folk emulated the practice, and as late as our 1928 book, "NAME THAT CHILD" is prominently displayed. Giving the Christian Name -- the name of a Biblical character or Saint -- ensured a model for the child and a heavenly prayer partner. That has gone to the wayside among many churchmen. I still ask parents, regardless of the name selected, to carefully select a patron.
In today's vignette, the child born to Mary is named Jesus, which simply means that God is saving, God is redeeming, God is liberating. The biblical text attributes the naming to an archangel's supernatural intervention. The name is as meaningful to us today as it was back then. People still long to be freed, delivered from political, social, and spiritual evil. To be redeemed from addiction and illusion. To be redeemed from selfishness, fear, hatred, and ignorance. Jesus can, and does, free us to do good work, to strive for an inbreaking of God's Reign, to change the world. It's all in a name!
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