We all know how important naming is. To be called by name gives you a warm feeling. I can name most people who come up to the altar for communion. Sometimes, however, I go blank on a name and either stumble or leave it out. In my last parish one Sunday morning because I had forgotten one person's name I omitted the names of an entire family. The following week when they came up for communion and put out their hands, each palm had a name neatly printed across it. After that I always remembered their names.

We choose names carefully for our children. Whole books are devoted to the meaning of names. We avoid names that have bad connotations to us. And somehow our name becomes a part of our identity. Don't we even use different versions of a name to identify how we are feeling about a person at a given time? I always knew if my mother used both names that I was in deep trouble.

Your uttered name touches something in you like nothing else. Mary in the garden knew the risen Lord when he spoke her name. To be named makes us a part of the family.

Can you imagine knowing each sheep in a huge flock by name? To someone who does not know the sheep those little faces all look the same. But I guess one gets to know the subtle differences – like meeting a set of identical twins. They may look alike at first. But as you get to know them you begin to notice how different they really are.

It is not uncommon for people to be in such a condition that they don't even know how to say their names or who they are. Their own consciousness, their feeling for themselves, their ability to determine the course of their lives has been destroyed. They may have been so abused that they have lost all sense of their own value. Or they have become so burdened by the cares of life that they have lost all sense of self. Or they may have been so caught up in the rat race that other priorities have clouded their judgement.

For such people the image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, the one who knows the sheep by name, can be a turning point in their relationship with God. Can there be a more comforting image for any of us than that of Jesus the good shepherd? Even in our urban society it is a pastoral picture of Jesus as one who knows us intimately by name and fills our needs. Even the least 'churched' among us recognizes the twenty-third psalm and sees its relationship to Jesus. It speaks at some deep level about our need to be named. It gives us an image of God who walks with us. The shepherd is the protector, a wall of strength and security for the sheep. The shepherd's crook is there to gently lift us out of danger and to put us back on the right path. Even in the face of death the shepherd is with us leading us through dark valleys into the high pastures where the sun shines brightly and there is plenty to eat.

Jesus interpreted his work in terms of shepherding. He saw his work as that of being a companion to every human being helping them to understand that they are known by name and loved. That understanding of love can be a spiritual awakening for people. It brings to light something they have long known but deeply hidden, so that they can put it into words and recognize it again.

Even in our modern society Jesus the good shepherd speaks in words we can understand. Lives are opened up. Change takes place. And isn't that kind of shepherding that we as Christians are called to? Loving and leading are the two ministries of the church. First we communicate caring for those to whom we minister. That is balanced with leading which allows change to take place in the lives of those to whom we minister. Ministry challenges. It challenges people to become everything they are intended to be.

Each year during the Easter season our usual Old Testament readings are replaced for a time with readings from the Acts of the Apostles. It is a reminder to us of the vitality of the early church, its exuberant mood as it began to live with the knowledge of the resurrected Christ at work in its midst. Today we read about that community as it begins to live out its baptismal covenant in the knowledge of the resurrection. "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers."

The Acts of the Apostles provides us with a picture of a community working together, living out their faith in their daily lives, and reaching out into their community in love. They were convinced that they were equipped with the Spirit. They tried to show it in their lives, not only by telling others about the faith, but also by expecting that the Spirit would work through them to reach out to others in real and tangible ways. Wonderful things happened in their lives because they believed. "Awe came upon everyone," we read, "because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need." The call to be the Church was the call to assist one another, to help the poor and needy, to expect the Spirit of God to work in and through them.

The church today has the same call to teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer. These are surely the marks of a Christian community that is truly alive. We are reminded of them each time we celebrate a Baptism and renew our own commitment to God. What difference do those words make in our daily lives? How can we become a Christian community that is truly alive? Do we recognize our own call to reach out to others in Christian love?

Our Diocese has set aside this period of time for us to focus on our need to minister not only to those in our parish families, but to reach out into our communities in love. Our call as Christians is a call to reach out to the poor and the needy in real and practical ways. It is a call to live justly in a world of inequality. It is a call to share the good things that God has provided for us with those in need. And so today we celebrate the bounty in which we live. We give thanks for all of God's blessings. We look at God's call to us and consider how we may respond to those in need.

In our Diocese we do it through a yearly campaign called FaithWorks. Many of you are contributing regularly through Pre-authorized Giving or your envelopes. This year the campaign hopes to raise $1.4 million. Without the campaign many wonderful ministries would never take place. FaithWorks funds youth ministries like the Dam drop-in here in Meadowvale. It funds inner city projects like Flemingdon Park. There are projects to help refugees, prison ministries, and the homeless. We have partners such as the PWRDF (Primate's World Relief and Development Fund) which reach out to people all over the world.