In Scripture, the change of a name signifies a call, a vocation to undertake a mission bestowed by God. Jesus changed Simon's name to Peter, calling him to be the Rock of the Church. Similarly, the change from Abram to Abraham reveals God's call. Scholars affirm that "Abraham" may be simply a different dialect form of "Abram" and not significantly different from it. What is significant is rather the biblical explanation given to the name "Abraham": "the father of many nations", since that explanation has its source in faith. Faith calls upon us to see significance, where the lack of faith would only discover accidental factors, mere coincidences, mere data.

This simple reflection on Abraham's name may serve as an invitation to you to reflect on your own name - possibly a name given by parents, or a school name, or a new name which you chose for yourself in later life, perhaps on receiving baptism. For Christian parents, the naming of a child in Baptism should be a serious matter, a religious matter, a sacramental matter. It is a tragedy to see the perverse, embarrassing, even grotesque names, which some parents inflict on children nowadays.