Saturday of the Thirty-third Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 502

That the dead will rise even Moses made known in the passage about the bush, when he called 'Lord' the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob; and he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive."

The resurrection of the dead is no easier to imagine today than it was at the time of Christ; and yet it is a fundamental doctrine of faith for us. Today we are faced with a growing body of science that finds intimate connections between the structures of the brain with its liquid chemistry and the personality. We wonder if a criminal can be converted to a law-abiding citizen with the right pharmacology, or a saint to a criminal with a bad mix. How can we expect the person to exist in eternity when we've seen her brain deteriorate into dust? 

Yet, Jesus insists that his Father is the God of the Living, including the long dead Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 

I go back to the Bethany and recall Jesus' authority as he called his friend by name, "Lazarus, come out!" 

There is some evidence that animals, like dolphins, use personal names; but they only identify themselves with peculiar whistles. These intelligent mammals, swimming in murky water, maintain their familiar pods by repeating their "names."  But they don't call each other by name, nor do they give each other names as we do. 

Human beings have nicknames, pet names, baptismal names, formal names, legal names, and innumerable titles to address one another. We use these names to identify, show respect, tease, flirt, harass, caress and reassure one another. 

The name is the relationship. Many are privileged names; belonging only to certain relationships. Many children do not call their parents by their first names; although they hear their parents using those names. They are permitted to use only affectionate titles like Dad and Mom.  Their grandparents also have affectionate nicknames while their aunts and uncles deserve those titles. Living away from my family for many years and returning only lately, I always feel honored when I hear, "Uncle Ken!" 

When the sound of his name, redolent with divine authority, passed through the tomb, Lazarus' eyes opened and he answered, "Here I am!" He was instantly reborn and stumbled out despite the swaddling wraps around his ankles and legs. This was only a resuscitation, of course; he died again sometime later. But I take from this story the divine authority to restore to life those whom the Lord calls by name.  

But now, thus says the LORD,
who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel:
Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name: you are mine.
When you pass through waters, I will be with you;
through rivers, you shall not be swept away.
When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned,
nor will flames consume you.
For I, the LORD, am your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your savior.
I give Egypt as ransom for you,
Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.
Because you are precious in my eyes
and honored, and I love you,
I give people in return for you
and nations in exchange for your life.
Fear not, for I am with you;
from the east I will bring back your offspring,
from the west I will gather you.
I will say to the north: Give them up!
and to the south: Do not hold them!
Bring back my sons from afar,
and my daughters from the ends of the earth:
All who are called by my name
I created for my glory;
I formed them, made them. (Isaiah 43:1-7)

We have been given knowledge of the Everlasting Name of God; we pray by God's name each and every day. When the Day of the Lord comes, he will call us by our everlasting baptismal names and there will be no bonds, chains, fire or water to keep us from leaping into his arms.