Called by Name (07/27/2025)

Growing up, we kids were used to being called by nicknames, shortened versions of our first name. It was endearing. It could also be irritating because frequently, when our names were called it meant we’d have to quit doing what we wanted to doing what our parents wanted. But when we heard our full name called, all the letters, all the names, we knew it was serious. We were pretty sure we were in trouble.

When my father called “Kathleen Louise Boyle,” I braced myself for a serious talk. I learned that there was a pattern to those talks. I’d behaved poorly, foolishly, or unlovingly. The talk would always lead to a reminder that my behavior was not the behavior of a Boyle. I hated those talks, but my dad was doing me a favor. He was reminding me of the dignity I possessed initially, the day I was named officially at my baptism. That’s who I really am, but sometimes I stray. He was calling me back.

I’m older now, much older. I can’t remember the last time anyone used all my names. But this week I was reminded of the years when I heard them frequently. And I recalled that feeling of being called back to myself, to the one I hope to be, to the one I truly want to be, to the one I’m called to be – to being a Christian not just in name but essence. This week I was reminded of the dignity one bears through Christ in the Spirit when on lives Christ.

And I thought of the gospels and the times Jesus called others by their name: Martha when she was worried about her sister’s lack of help in the duties of hospitality; Mary Magdalene at the tomb when she didn’t recognize the risen Christ at first; Simon Peter on the shore after having caught 153 large fish and being asked three times, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Martha was being called to live her spiritual hospitality as well as physical – to invite Christ “in” and not just “over for dinner.” Mary Magdalene was being called to set down her fears and pick up her apostleship and announce Jesus’ resurrection. Simon Peter was being asked to set down the guilt of his three denials of Jesus the night before Jesus died for our sins and to pick up his full, open and loving relationship with our LORD.

Then I thought of Isaiah 43:1 “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine.”

We exist because of the LORD. The LORD created us with loving purpose. The LORD redeemed us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ sent from the Father. The LORD gave us our name and calls us by name in this age of the Spirit to be His, to live our lives openly and fully in Him, with Him, and through Him. And when the LORD calls us by name, the LORD calls us to the dignity that is ours as daughters and sons, as disciples, as members of His living Body in this world, as temples of the Spirit.

We belong to the family of God which bring with it a true dignity. We are the daughters and sons of the Almighty Father. We are the sisters and brothers of Christ. Let us humbly pick up those family ties and seek to live accordingly with love and humility. And let us everyday seek to live as who we are - Christians.

Until tomorrow, let us all love well.