(“The Resurrected Christ Appearing to Mary Magdelene in the Garden,” ca. 1500-1520, The Cloisters Collection)

By Sister Michele Morek

I have been reflecting on the mantra some groups of activists have adopted, when they are supporting the cause of a person who met a violent death or other injustice. They chant: “Say her name! Say his name!”

For many years our Ursuline Motherhouse sheltered a little lady we affectionately called “Miss Hattie.”  She was a permanent resident we “adopted” when her father, a widower, asked our pioneer Sisters for help in raising her. (In those days there were not many resources for low-income people with special needs.)

Miss Hattie made her own little niche with the Sisters and was happy here – but she did not get along well with one of the male employees, who loved to tease her. One morning he came to the diet kitchen, where I worked at the time. Miss Hattie was hot on his heels. Addressing Sister Mary Laura – the Sister in charge – he pointed to Miss Hattie and said, “She wants to talk with you.”

Miss Hattie, eyes blazing, spit out “’She’? ‘She’? She’s got a name, ain’t she? like everyone else!”

That was the first time I fully realized the dignity it confers on someone to use their name. The gift of remembering names is one I have often envied, because it is really affirming to call someone by name.

Indeed, there is power in a name! Think of “Lazarus! Come forth!” Think of Mary Magdalene’s sudden recognition of the resurrected Jesus when he simply said, “Mary!” 

Isaiah (49) recognized it when he said, “The Lord called me from birth, from my mother’s womb he gave me my name.” The Navajo Indians I knew in my childhood were given a “war name” at birth, and (except for those close to the person) it was kept secret, because to know someone’s name is to have power over them.

In a reading for the 6^th Sunday of Lent, Jaime Waters tells us that the Hebrew root of “to name” is zkr, typically translated to “remember,” or to “make known.” (April: Give Us This Day)

When we say Saint Angela’s name, we make her present. When we name ourselves Ursulines, we invoke Ursula’s strength and courage.

Miss Hattie had it right. Our modern-day activists have it right. Now in our post-Easter season, let’s hear it for Jesus: Say his name!