Turning her back on Mom

A celebrity whose career has been in decline has just changed her name.

She had been named after her mother, who had died young, but now she wants to associate herself with a different “energy.”

She has also forsaken Christianity for another religion. It is easy to suspect that the name change is religiously motivated, at least in part, because her birth name is an explicitly Catholic one, given in honor of Our Lady, the Blessed Mother of Jesus.

It is thus easy to characterize this person’s actions not only as turning her back on Christ, but also turning her back on her birth mother, on our heavenly Mother Mary, and on our mother on earth, the Church.

The New Testament speaks very dramatically against those who forsake Christ and little more needs to be said right now about how those condemnations may apply to this person.

What does need to be said right now is that this situation reminds us of our obligation to evangelize – to spread the Gospel, to let people know of the great love and grace God offers us through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ – and this is also an obligation to re-evangelize.

Just because people are raised “in the faith” does not mean that they are firmly rooted in the faith – they too need to be told and retold the Good News of Christ and shown God's wonderful gifts of love and grace that cannot fully be experienced anywhere else.

Even if people turn away, they still need to hear the truth: God loves them, Christ died for them, and Mother would love for them to come back.