The other day my two-year-old daughter called to me from the living room: “Jordan! Come here please!” I immediately blamed my brother who probably let her overhear The Simpsons where Bart likewise addresses his father, Homer.
“No, Tess,” I replied, “I’m Daddy.” She was confused. “Not Jordan?” Now I was stuck. How to explain that I am both?
Our names matter because they reveal who we are to other people. Barnabas and Paul “tore their garments” because the crowds called them gods. The apostles knew they were not gods, but humans zealously energized by experiencing the risen Christ. They “looked intently” at someone in need and empowered him.
The Good Spirit, as St. Ignatius says, looks at us similarly today: it is a gift to know who we really are. Whatever our title or name, as Christians we can find identity, individually and together, in service to the Gospel.
—Jordan Skarr works in the Office of Pastoral Ministries for the Midwest Jesuits.