Homily: July 11, 2023, Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time (Namesake)

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 "You shall no longer be spoken of as Jacob but as Israel." 

Jacob was well known for giving new names to places where he had a memorable experience. In yesterday's first reading, we saw how he changed the name of the place where he had his beautiful dream of angels and stairs to heaven, from Luz to Bethel. Today, he wrestled with God’s angel, and he named the wrestling place Penuel. In the chapters that follow, we will see him name another place Manahaim and so on. The names of these places carry the memory of the event that happened to Jacob.

Interestingly, in today’s reading, we see God's angel changing Jacob's name to Israel, because now, the person of Jacob was what carried the memory of the event. ‘Israel’ means ‘the one who wrestles with God’. 

What is the significance of a name?

Many roads and streets are named after people who contributed to the history of the land, this ensures that their names and the events of their time will not be forgotten. Jesus says, “The good shepherd calls his sheep by name”, they are not just ‘sheep’, each of them is different and the good shepherd knows each of them specially.

God calls each of us by our names too, because we are not nobody, we are not a thing, we are somebody. God knows each of us specially and uniquely.

God told Abraham, “I will make your name great.” And He did. Through His angel, Jacob became Israel, and the whole Jewish people became known as Israelites, bearing the identity of being Jacob’s lineage and Abraham’s descendents.

Saint Benedict, the abbot, is still remembered today, even after 1500 years. Not just his name, but also his way of life. Thousands of monks have been and still are following his footsteps. Even our popes, 16 of them, had chosen ‘Benedict’ as their papal names because Benedict was faithful to God and his earthly life was inspirational.

Let us also be faithful to God in every situation. He knows our names and calls out to us daily. Let us hear and recognize His voice and follow Him every day. Amen.


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