{"id":7958,"date":"2018-05-25T13:09:02","date_gmt":"2018-05-25T18:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/?p=7958"},"modified":"2026-02-26T13:42:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T19:42:30","slug":"namesake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/2018\/05\/25\/namesake\/","title":{"rendered":"Namesake"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLord, have mercy\/ On my descendants\/ For they know not\/ What they do\/ For they know not<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Who you are.\u201d ~ \u201cPillar of Truth\u201d by Lucy Dacus<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been about four hours since the birth, and now that everyone is calm and happy and relaxing, I take a minute to steal away. I descend softly down the stairs, down the corridor, and into the dim, cool, silent wood and stone chapel. On the side is the naive where the tabernacle waits, the red lamp is lit and glowing. I kneel.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThank you. Thank you for the gift of my son. Thank you for the gift of his life, his healthy delivery. For his mother, his sister, our whole family. I\u2019m really overwhelmed with gratitude for these blessings. Thank you. Really.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I pause. I look around. I breathe in the quiet for a moment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m being honest \u2026 I\u2019m a bit nervous. About raising a son. It\u2019s a \u2026 confusing time to be raising a young man. A confusing time to know what it means to be a man, with so many different, conflicting ideas of manhood competing for attention. Some quite uplifting, but so many so destructive, so toxic \u2026 so short of what I hope my son will be and become.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why we named him after you. Joshua. He\u2019ll know you by a different name of course — the Latin derivative, instead of the Hebrew — but still, he\u2019s named for you. Please teach him, your namesake, by your example of what it means to be a man.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"baby\"Meet baby Joshua (image courtesy of Steven Cottam)<\/p>\n

\u201cTeach him that courage does not mean the willingness to inflict pain, but the willingness to endure it for the good.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeach him that it is stronger to control anger, greed, and lust than to give it free rein and inflict it upon others.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeach him that the proper use of power is the defense of the powerless.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeach him that to protect and provide for his family does not stop with those who share his features, but extends to all his brothers and sisters in need.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTeach him that it is better to die as an innocent, than to live as an oppressor.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo many have said to me, about my son, \u2018How exciting, a son!\u2019 <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2019Yes, exciting!\u2019 I say. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018He\u2019ll get to be the one to pass on your name.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Well, yes,\u2019 I say. \u2018Maybe. Probably. Unless of course he is called to a different path. To be a religious brother. Or a priest. Should we be so blessed.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Well, sure … but you don\u2019t want your only son to be a priest. Who would pass on your name?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHmm. Good question. Who would pass on my name? I\u2019ll be honest Lord. It doesn\u2019t matter to me if my name is passed on. It doesn\u2019t matter to me if my descendants remember me. But please, Lord, let my son pass on your name. Let my descendants remember you. Let them know who you are.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPlease remember this your namesake. Remember him by granting him the grace to remember you — your name, your life, and to call upon you all the days of his. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAmen.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Steven Cottam
\n<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"Steven-Cottam-baby\"Steven Cottam serves as youth minister at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church. He lives in Mechanicsville, Virginia, with his lovely wife, precocious daughter and adorable infant son. He is an active member of\u00a0Common Change<\/a>, a group which seeks to gather and distribute tithe money in a relational and collaborative\u00a0way. He has been friends with Sister Julia ever since they were students, coworkers, and cooking club members together at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. His interests and passions include language learning, gardening, coffee, and becoming a Jedi Master.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cLord, have mercy\/ On my descendants\/ For they know not\/ What they do\/ For they know not Who you are.\u201d ~ \u201cPillar of Truth\u201d by Lucy Dacus It\u2019s been about four hours since the birth, and now that everyone is calm and happy and relaxing, I take a minute to steal away. I descend softly...","protected":false},"author":3935050,"featured_media":7960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[698755598],"tags":[22660,76435,6731,1343,406,7087,7816,18215,91209,124,226436,216925,928153,5309,22106,30530],"series":[698756626],"class_list":["post-7958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-family-life","tag-birth","tag-blessed","tag-boys","tag-children","tag-family","tag-gift","tag-god","tag-grace","tag-legacy","tag-life","tag-lord","tag-manhood","tag-namesake","tag-parenting","tag-son","tag-teach","series-messy-jesus-business"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/franciscan-sisters-steven-cottam-newborn.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/wp-content\/plugins\/seriously-simple-podcasting\/assets\/images\/no-album-art.png","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"stitcher":{"key":"stitcher","url":"","label":"Stitcher","class":"stitcher","icon":"stitcher.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/customwordpresssites.com\/mjb\/feed\/podcast\/messy-jesus-business","embedCode":"

Namesake<\/a><\/blockquote>