Think of the times in life when names are changed. Celebrities take on a new name to match their new persona. Until the time of Vatican II in vowed life we took a new name at entrance to novitiate. At marriage a woman adds her husband’s name to her own. And in today’s reading, God speaks to Abram and changes his name to Abraham. All these name changes signify something new is taking place. For Abraham, God establishes a covenant relationship with all of Abraham’s descendants. As Jesus’ disciples, we are part of this covenant relationship, for God pledges to be faithful to us. This relationship challenges us to live with open eyes and hearts, open to all people and cultures, to see as God sees, for God remembers the covenant “binding for a thousand generations.”