Parish Missions

What's in a Name?

The naming of cats is a difficult matter;

It isn’t just one of your holiday games.

You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter,

When I tell you a cat must have three different names.

First of all, there’s the name the family use daily,

Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonso or James;

Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Baily.

But all of them sensible, everyday names.

There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter:

Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames,

Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter.

But all of them sensible, everyday names.

But I tell you a cat needs a name that is particular,

A name that’s peculiar and more dignified;

Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,

Or spread out his whiskers or cherish his pride.

Of the names of this kind I can give you a quorum:

Such as Munkustrap Quaxo or Cordirco Pat;

Such as Bomalurina or else Jellylorum;

Names that never belong to more than one cat.

But above and beyond there’s still one name left over.

And that’s the name that you never will guess.

The name that no human research can discover

But the cat himself knows and will never confess.

When you notice a cat in profound meditation,

The reason I tell you is always the same:

His mind is engaged in a rapt meditation

of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name.

His ineffable, effable. effan—ineffable, deep and inscrutable,

singular name. . .name. . . .name. . . .name

--“Cats” by T.S. Eliot

Though there may be a significant “cultural gap” between cat lovers and their counterparts in the world of dogs, T.S. Eliot’s poem goes beyond a delightful feline verse; it’s also somewhat instructive of the whole idea of personal identity. His implication is clear. Names matter and some names matter more than others. Names define who we are. Mary and Joseph followed the angel’s direction and gave the babe the name Jesus--God saves. That’s the name by which we know him, a name that defines who he is and his relationship to the human race.

We, in our time, have a given name and a family name. There was a time in our Catholic tradition when the given name had to be that of a saint. Absent such a holy name, it was not uncommon for a middle name to be added that would fulfill that requirement. Often the name of a loved family member would be given to honor that person if living or as a memorial if deceased. Even the sound of a name, often invented for that very reason, has become a popular choice. Whatever the source, the given name becomes the public identity of a person.

Like Eliot’s cats, however, we often have another more familiar name, a nickname if you will. Most often welcome, these names are sometimes a curse, like my being called “Junior” well into adulthood. But often they are affectionate appellations and somewhat personal. My friend Howard is known to his family simply as “H,” a name I haven’t used for him in the nearly forty years I’ve known him. “H” is reserved for family. The first uttering of the universal “Dada” or “Mama” is nonetheless one of the most powerful examples of a deeply personal nickname.

But there is, I would propose, still another name that is as mysterious and as awesome as the ineffable name of a cat. It is indefinable, unspeakable. Only in the deepest recesses of our hearts do we experience that intimate relationship that no one on earth can discover. It defines who we are as God’s child. It is more intimate than any name we might have from another human being. It is the name by which God calls each one of us, a name that one only comes to recognize in those moments of “rapt meditation” when it’s just you and God.

A new year is a time for setting goals, making resolutions, charting new beginnings. Perhaps this might include or even flow from one of our names. Perhaps an investigation of the meaning of our given name might be in the offing. Google will help there! Or perhaps the life story of the saint or person after whom we were named might provide some ideas for a New Year’s resolution. But for those who want to delve into the deeper meaning of their relationship with God, I would suggest some serious meditation to discover the name by which God calls them.

As we honor Mary on this first day of a new year, we are also aware of the power of the name she and Joseph conferred on their son. Just as his name is sacred and identifies his relationship not only with us but also his relationship to his heavenly father, so too our names—even the one by which God personally and intimately calls each one of us. As we now approach the altar to become again intimately connected to our God in Christ Jesus, I invite you to listen for the voice of God calling you by an

ineffable, deep and inscrutable,

singular name.