What should we call God when He Is?

What should we call God when He Is?

Everyone has a name and usually responds when we call using his name.  There are some who go by nicknames or a few terms that describe some that are unmentionable.  When parents consider what they should name their new-born baby there are grandparents, aunts and uncles, and perhaps close friends ready to assist with their favorite identities for this child.  

As this child matures and attends school he will respond to the teacher as well as his classmates when he hears his given name announced.  Attending a class with many unknown people and someone yells “Hey you” I need an answer to this question.”  Hey you?  I have a  name on my name tag.  Please respect that. 

Moses kneeling at the burning bush was confused when God told him to tell the Israrlites in Egypt that I AM has sent me. (Ex 3: 14).   Just like your parents know that it is you who sent friends with news of some sort because they said (your name) sent us.  A name is more than placing someone in a recognizable situation, it identifies you as an important figure in life since you are an I or Me.  Most of the Jews knew that God stands as more than a name; He is the I AM that created everything and the I AM who gives us life and promises forgiveness.

God revealed himself to his people Israel by making his name known to them.  A name expresses a person’s essence and identity and the meaning of this person’s life.  God has a name; he is not an anonymous force.  To disclose one’s name is to make oneself known to others; in a way it is to hand oneself over by becoming accessible, capable of being known more intimately and addressed personally.  (CCC 203).

In revealing his mysterious name , Yhwh “ I Am He who Is,” “I AM who I Am” I, God says he is and by what name he is to be called.  (CCC 206 ist sentence).

When St Paul was thrown from his horse on the road to Damascus and heard the words of Jesus, he asked, “Who are you?”  Pilate asked Jesus are you the Son of God?  A name without a name until he is risen from the dead.  He then is Savior, the living Son of God, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.  This is Christ, the name that is forever!

God who is forever, eternal, without a beginning and not to be considered who was.  I Am means forever without needing to explain from what or where since He Is.  

Often you might hear some inappropriate expressions like “ in the beginning God created  everything including himself.”  What is a slip of the tongue is not humorous but a disillusion as to who God is and making the Trinity a human entity that of itself was not eternal until God created it.  Now, man, through the grace of God will indeed become eternal.  We will not become divine, but will share in the divinity of Christ; as the words spoken over the wine and a drop or water during the preparation of the sacred blood at communion.  “By the mystery of this water and wine may we come to share in the divinity of Christ who humbled himself to share in our humanity.”

This is not a name in itself, but the very truth of the name of Christ who is forever; He Is the I Am.  However, the name of Christ; the Holy Mass is a prayer to the Father, but it is about Christ.  The bible was written by multiple authors, but it's all about Christ.  We pray to the Blessed Mother Mary and many saints, but all the prayers are to Christ who is the Blessed Son of the Father.  Christ is the Name above all other names.  He is the I Am, God forever!  

Ralph B. Hathaway