REFLECTION:

One of the gifts God gave Bishop Larry is his remarkable ability to remember people's names. I, on the other hand, have to work a little harder at it. In fact, I keep a Maryknoll yearbook in my office. Whenever I receive an email about a student or teacher, I'll often pull out the yearbook so I can connect the name to the face. Sometimes I'll even write the person's name down a few times just to help me remember it.

But there's something special about knowing someone's name.

As I walk around campus, the students will often call out, "Hi, Father Ace!" And I have to admit, it's always fun when I greet them by name. You can almost see the surprise and joy on their faces. Hopefully they're not thinking, "How does Father know my name? Did I do something wrong?"

Or maybe you've experienced this before. If you have an older sibling, you know what it's like when teachers don't even call you by your own name. You're simply known as, "Oh... you're Ace's younger brother," or "You're so-and-so's sister." Somehow your identity becomes attached to someone else. (And yes, maybe some of you are still waiting for people to learn your actual name!)

Names matter because names tell us we are known. They tell us we are seen. They tell us we matter. That is exactly what happens in today's Gospel.

Mary Magdalene arrives at the tomb heartbroken. She believes everything is over. She mistakes Jesus for the gardener because her grief blinds her eyes. But then everything changes with just one word. "Mary." Jesus simply calls her by name.

It wasn't a long explanation. It wasn't a miracle that convinced her. It wasn't even seeing Him at first. It was hearing the One she loved speak her name.

Immediately she recognizes Him and responds, "Rabbouni!"—"Teacher!"

This moment beautifully echoes the words of St. Paul in our first reading: "Whoever is in Christ is a new creation." Mary Magdalene is no longer defined by her past. She is no longer remembered as the woman from whom seven demons had been cast out. She is now the first witness of the Resurrection, the one entrusted to announce the greatest news the world has ever heard.

Jesus didn't call her by her past. He called her by her name.

Perhaps that is something all of us need to hear today. Too often we define ourselves by our mistakes, our failures, our regrets, or by what other people call us. Sometimes we are known only by our job, our title, our family, or our reputation. But before anything else, God knows us personally. He knows our name.

Isaiah reminds us, "I have called you by name; you are mine." That means our deepest identity is not found in what we have done but in whose we are. We belong to Christ.

Today, ask yourself this question: If Jesus were standing before you today and called your name, what would He be inviting you to leave behind? Fear? Guilt? Anger? Doubt? Or perhaps He is simply reminding you that you are loved.

The same Jesus who called "Mary" at the empty tomb continues to call each one of us by name today. And whenever we respond to His voice, as Mary did, we become what St. Paul proclaims: A new creation in Christ.