Named -- John 10: 1-10

Jesus is a shepherd who knows the names of all his sheep.

Knowing the name of someone can be important.
We all have been in a situation where we know we should remember the name of someone we meet, and we don't.

you have to ask for the name, and you can see the disappointment on the face of the other.
You forgot this person's name, how could you?

It must also have happened to you that someone prominent in your eyes, someone whom you don't meet too often, nevertheless—to your great surprise—remembers your name.
To be called by your name by a friend always gives you a warm feeling.
Your uttered name touches something in you like nothing else.

Jesus says of himself that he knows us by name.
In the Hebrew Scriptures we are told how God inscribed the name of his people on the palm of God's hand.
Jesus reveals to us the personal love of God for each one of us.
God knows you by name. God knows me by name.
It is a love that resembles the love the Father has for Jesus, and Jesus for the Father.
It is a love that not only relates us to God, but also to each other.
It makes us belong to the same family, or, to use the image of Jesus, it makes us members of the same flock.