What Name Would You Choose?

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara CSsR

Solemnity of the Birth of St. John The Baptist, Year B

St. Gerard Majella Church

Baton Rouge, LA, USA

June 24, 2012

Dearest in the Lord, today, the Church celebrates the birth of John the Baptist, the forerunner of Jesus Christ whom we usually encounter in the season of Advent. As a rule, the Church celebrates the feast of a saint once a year, usually on the anniversary of the saint’s death. But in the case of John the Baptist, we celebrate his birth as well as his death. He is the only saint after our Lord Jesus Christ whose birth we celebrate with a solemn feast. Do you know why? Because “Of all those born of women, none is greater than John,” Jesus says in Luke 7:28. The Church is only affirming the Lord’s declaration. 

Today’s Gospel taken from Luke 1:57-66,80 focused chiefly on the naming ceremony of the new born child. We were told that as soon as the relatives had come for the child’s circumcision, they wanted to name him Zechariah after his father. But the mother objected saying “He will be called John.” The relatives fought back arguing that there was no one in the family who had such a name. As the argument raged on, the father of the child, Zachariah (who was made dumb by God for doubting the prophecy of the birth of the child) requested for a writing tablet on which he wrote: “John is his name.” 

But why does the Gospel show such an interest in the naming of the child? What’s in a name? In biblical times, and still today in many African cultures, names are not mere appellations. They are not just titles with no relevance to life. Children are not just given names simply because such names sound beautiful. Personal names convey what the bearer of the name stands for. Personal names can convey one’s faith; it can describe an event or an experience. It can also give a hint of someone’s mission on earth. In the Gospel, when Simon demonstrated that he could be relied upon as the leader of the Lord’s Apostles, Jesus gave him the name Peter which means “Rock.” When the sons of Zebedee, James and John, asked Jesus to call down fire from heaven to consume the inhabitants of a Samaritan village that refused to welcome Jesus, they were given a new name “Sons of Thunder.” In the Bible, names reveal an essential character or destiny of the bearer. 

What then is the meaning of the name John? The name John means “God is gracious.” This means that John’s birth points to a new beginning, a new era, an era that will be marked not by punishment but by grace, love and forgiveness. The birth of John is the threshold of God’s grace. Let’s not forget that the mission of John the Baptist is closely bound to the mission of Jesus Christ. Through his preaching of repentance and conversion, he prepared people to hear and accept Jesus and his message. The name John means “God is gracious.” John was not the source of grace, but he pointed to the presence of God’s grace among God’s people. John was simply a threshold, that is, a point of entry. Jesus is the grace. The meaning of the name John was only an announcement to the people that the era of grace is coming, in fact, it is already here. And in John 1:29, St. John the Baptist declared, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. This is the one I meant when I said ‘A man who comes after me is greater than me because he was before me.”

The people of BC believed in a punitive and vengeful God. They believed in a God that acts like police officers (who hide in a corner of the road just to catch those over-speeding and ticket them). But the name of John conveyed that the people’s notion of God was wrong, that God is gracious. And God’s graciousness was ultimately demonstrated in the sending of his only begotten Son. And what did God’s Son tell us about God? “God loved the world so much that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes will not perish, but will have everlasting life.” 

Beloved in Christ, in John we see that before we were born, God already had a purpose for us. In the First Reading from Isaiah, the Prophet himself said, “Hear me O coastlands, listen, O distant peoples. The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name” (Isaiah 49:1). And in Jeremiah 1:5, God said to Jeremiah, “Before you were formed in your mother’s womb, I knew you, before you were born I have set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Before we were born into this world, God already had a purpose for us. Now, part of our calling is discovering our purpose in life and being faithful to its requirement. Probably, the reason why we are still living is because we are yet to accomplish our purpose in life. Any day the purpose and mission are accomplished, God may call us home. John the Baptist is being remembered today not simply because God called him to a special vocation but because he faithfully walked on the path that God had called him to tread on. 

As we celebrate the birth of St. John the Baptist and read the beautiful story of how he got his name which was given to him by God, I want to ask each of us: If we are to receive a new name, a name which represents our mission, our purpose, our identity and our calling in life, what would that name be? The name John means “God is gracious” and through his work on earth, John announced this God to his people. What name would you choose? What message and mission would such a name convey. There is something in every name. At birth, my parents named me Chukwuemeka which means “God has done marvelously or greatly.” At Baptism, I was given “Marcel” which is derived from the Latin “Marcellus” meaning “little warrior.” Yes, I am a warrior of the Lord. At confirmation, I took the name Divine. Divine is the very nature of God

According to your mission, goal, and purpose in life, what name would you choose?