What's in a name?

According to Shakespeare, not much. "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

But in today's Gospel, Elizabeth goes through a bit of trouble to make sure that her son is given the name John. What is the significance of the name? What does it mean? It is hard to guess if Elizabeth understood a hidden meaning to the name. What is clear is that the chief significance of the name to her and the reason she fought for it was because that was what God wanted.

There may be many things we don't fully understand about our life or our faith, but in the midst of troubles and opposition, we can take refuge in God's will for us. We may not fully understand the what, when and how, but we can be comforted by the why: God loves us and wants us to be happy with Him forever.

In the meantime, we must keep faithful to the Lord, seeking His will and holding fast to it in the name of Jesus, at which every knee will bow.