Name changes had nothing to do with innocence

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

"The names have been changed to protect the innocent."

We've all heard that phrase on TV, speaking about criminals who have been caught. Their lives were changed - maybe for their own good, but certainly for the good of others.

In the Bible, names are also changed - for the good of the person renamed, and for the good of others. Name changes often signify a total change - a conversion.

Living in a paper-producing region, we understand something about conversion. Paper converters turn one form of paper into another - making boxes, newsprint or paper towels. The paper is made anew: "Mr. Paper Pulp" becomes "Mr. Paper Bag."

The same happens with conversion in a Christian heart - that heart is made new by the grace of God - and the outer life changes as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls conversion "a radical reorientation of the whole life away from sin and evil and toward God."

However, unlike paper - a physical conversion - spiritual conversion requires interaction with divine grace. We must work with God so grace can work more fully in us, and transform us.

One of the most famous conversions is that of St. Paul, celebrated on Jan. 25. (It is the only conversion the church celebrates as a feast day.) We all know the story of Saul - a zealous Jew persecuting Christians and even assisting in the martyrdom of Stephen. On his way to Damascus to capture more Christians for a similar fate, Saul was knocked over by a vision of Jesus that left him blind. His resulting conversion left Saul a changed man - and a most fervent apostle of Christ.

After that, Saul even referred to himself by a new name - Paul. (Paul had been his legal Roman name, but he had previously gone by Saul, the name of Israel's first king.)

Paul was not the only person to undergo a major conversion, a major shift in life, signified by a name change in Scriptures.

• For example, there is Abram. His name meant "exalted father"; even though he had no children, he was a wealthy herdsman and master of a large household. However, Abram took God's promise and moved his entire household to a foreign land, trusting God's word to give him a new life. After that, God renamed Abram (Gn 17:5) to Abraham (father of many), and promised him a nation of children and an everlasting covenant.

• God likewise changed Abraham's wife's name from Sarai to Sarah (meaning a princess), in preparation for her coming pregnancy, which made her the mother of a nation

• Abraham's grandson, Jacob, got a similar name change - and a new lifestyle. Jacob had stolen his brother Esau's birthright and fled to his uncle Laban. He lived there many years before he had a change of heart and decided to set things right with Esau. On his journey home (Gn 32), Jacob met a stranger and wrestled with him all night. Neither won, but at dawn the stranger struck Jacob hard enough to lame him for life. The stranger - said to be an angel - gave Jacob the name "Israel," signifying that he had "struggled with God."

Jacob reconciled with his brother and bequeathed his new name to the nation of 12 tribes that sprang from his 12 sons.

• In the New Testament, God - in the person of Jesus - again renamed someone who was preparing for an entire change of life. After following Jesus for a time, the fisherman Simon (Mt 16:18) professed a major shift in his personal beliefs: he believed that the Messiah had come, in the person of Jesus, the Son of God. This showed a massive change of heart for a devout Jew of Simon's day - to believe that God walked in his presence. And Peter's belief changed his life and earned him the name of "rock" and the leadership of the church built upon the New Covenant.

What Jesus told Peter after his name-changing profession of faith is true of all true conversions: "flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father"(Mt 16:17). Conversion always begins with the grace of God - God acts first, and we must respond, willing to change our very lives.

The Catechism calls conversion "the movement of a 'contrite heart,' drawn and moved by grace to respond to the merciful love of God who loved us first" (no. 1428). Our response makes grace visible in the world.

• Abraham was called by God to leave his homeland and, later, to offer his only son. His response led to countless descendants in faith.

• Jacob was called by God to reconcile with his brother - and his father-in law. Jacob set his life to rights with both, setting an example of family that led to the nation of Israel.

• Simon was called to believe that a traveling teacher was God's son, the one who fulfilled the Law and the Covenant. Simon, a simple man, placed his whole life in Jesus' hands and was, in turn, entrusted with the care of Christ's entire church.

• And Saul, a fervent antagonist of all Christians, blinded both figuratively and literally, was asked to see and follow a totally new light by the Risen Lord. Paul, accepting that which he had first denounced, became the most eloquent defender of Christ and spread the faith in him across the known world.

Their names were changed - for their own good and the good of others - and their hearts followed. They became models of faith for everyone who takes upon themselves the name of "Christian," the name of Christ. And we remember this at the time of confirmation, when we choose a name - rename ourselves - to affirm our own faith commitment.

Pope John Paul said conversion means "a change of mentality. It is not simply a matter of thinking differently in an intellectual sense, but of revising the reasons behind one's actions in the light of the Gospel. ... Conversion, therefore, fosters a new life, in which there is no separation between faith and works in our daily response to the universal call to holiness. In order to speak of conversion, the gap between faith and life must be bridged."

Abraham, Sarah, Jacob, Peter and Paul bridged that gap and responded to grace with faithful action and hope - and their lives, and the lives of many others, were changed.