Called by name

On a wall in Rome (which evidently inspires people’s poetic side more than other cities do), someone wrote, “Jesus saves”. Perhaps it was a devout Christian, even orthodox in terms of content. Someone else then decided to make their own contribution, adding two more words: “con nome” (literally “by name”, the translation in Italian for “save as” function when saving files on computer). We don’t know if this second “wall poet” is also pious or if he was simply trying to be clever, playing on computer language. What’s true is that the latter is also orthodox, correct in terms of doctrine: that is how Jesus saves us, by calling us by name. We heard this in the Gospel reading on Sunday, 14 January. Andrew, the first to be called, the first of the vocations, introduces his brother Simon to Jesus. And the first thing Jesus does is give him a ...