Called By Name

THE RT. REV’D. JOS THARAKAN

Episcopal Visitor to the Community of the Mother of Jesus - CMJ

Called by Name: an Easter Message

Easter Message to the Sisters and Brothers of the Community of the Mother of Jesus

Years ago, walking thr

ough the corridors of the General Convention, I was stopped in

my tracks by a single word. The President of the House of Deputies passed by and

said, simply, “Hi Jos.” No name tag. No prior conversation. She simply knew who I was.

It blew me away.

That is Easter. That is the whole of it, captured in a garden at dawn, in a single

word spoken by the Risen Christ: “Mary.”

Mary Magdalene stood weeping at the empty tomb, so overtaken by grief that she

could not recognize the Lord standing before her. And then he called her by name —

and everything changed. Only someone who truly knows you speaks your name like

that. Her eyes opened. Death gave way to life.

We do well to remember, too, the Blessed Mother, who carried resurrection within her

long before the empty tomb. Mary of Nazareth, who pondered all things in her heart,

who stood at the foot of the cross without turning away, knew in her bones that love

does not end. She is the first witness to what Easter proclaims: that God’s “yes” to life

is always louder than the world’s “no.”

St. Francis of Assisi, who stripped himself of everything to follow the Risen Lord, left

us these words: “It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Francis understood that

resurrection is not something that happens to us passively. It requires that we let go

— of our grave clothes, our fear, the old stories we carry about who we are. Like

Lazarus stumbling out of the tomb still bound, we must allow ourselves to be

unbound. New life cannot be poured into old containers.

God has called each of you by name this Easter morning. You have been seen, known, and loved into life. The stone is already rolled away. The only question left is the one that matters most: will you come out?

Blessings

The Right Rev’d. Jos Tharakan

Bishop of Idaho & Episcopal Visitor of the CMJ