It is significant to call someone by her/his name

To call someone by her or his name is significant. It is something we can easily take for granted.

The Nazis gave numbers to their prisoners, indeed, they tattooed the numbers on to their arms. Giving a person a number can be dehumanising.

When people call us by our name we sit up, we listen to them. We feel we are being taken seriously.

Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who calls us by our name.

Words spoken after the Gospel at midday Mass in the Church of the Three Patrons Rathgar today.