When a new child is born, one of the first things that we do for them in the Church is to give them a name and a blessing. It is important that these two go together. The name provides a sense of identity and purpose, and the blessing gives the child the power to live up to and fulfill that identity and purpose. It is fitting, then, that each week when we partake of the Sacrament and have the opportunity to be born again, we are at that time given a name and a blessing. The name we are given is that of Jesus Christ, and the blessing is that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. Regardless of the name each of us were given at birth, and regardless of how well or how poorly we have managed to live up to our namesake, we can nevertheless be given a new name each and every week as we partake of the Sacrament. Maybe some weeks we don’t always live up to that name. Maybe we don’t always remember that new identity and purpose we were given with that new name and blessing. But we always have a new chance to live up to the name when we receive it again the next week. I know that each of us have been given the name of Jesus Christ to take upon us so that we can know who we are and why we are here and that we were given a blessing so that we could have the strength and courage and humility to accept this divine purpose and to labor with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength to see it fulfilled.
