But now, this is what the Lord says—He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1
“Our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner—no mere tolerance, or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.”
C.S. Lewis in The Weight of Glory (New York: Harper Collins, 1980) 46.
While speaking to groups on trips, like this one in Bolivia, I aim to learn everyone’s name as they arrive for a seminar or training. Then, during the session, I call on them each by name. People really appreciate this as a gift. They notice the effort.
I love how Lewis puts it, people are the “holiest object presented” to our senses. Ironically, the most generous gift we can give them, often, is to call them by name in a group. It sends a message: you matter. How can you add this to your generosity?
As my word for the year is ‘remember’ and as this is my first trip of 2021, I am reminded that to remember a person’s name is to treat them as holy and special. How cool is it that we serve a God who summons us and who knows our name!