A Word from Fr. Kevin on Names

--by Fr. Kevin

Eugene Peterson once said that next to the Bible, the church directory is the most important book in the pastor’s study. To learn someone’s name and use it is a gift. I encourage each person at Savior to learn the name of others at the church. Did you know that by doing that, you are becoming more like God, who knows each one of us intimately and calls us by name?

·      Jesus says the good shepherd (a metaphor for himself) “calls his own sheep by name” (John 10:3)

·      Isaiah says that God “brings out the starry host one by one and calls forth each of them by name” (Isaiah 40:26)

·      Jesus reveals that he’s alive again to Mary Magdalene by using 1 word, her name: “Mary!” (John 20:16).

(And if you forget a name, as I sometimes do, there is grace.)