Saint Cindrella

Saint Cinderella ©

By Michael Casey

I was  at Mass today and I heard a good story, some youngsters  were having instruction prior to Confirmation and they were told to pick a Saint’s  name which you adopt at Confirmation, pick any name you like. So come the big day a girl went up to be “slapped” by the bishop, it’s a tradition you get a gentle tap, all part of being a fully grown up Christian. I was teased that it would be more like a punch and that it would really hurt, but that was 40years ago. As for the girl when asked for her name, she had chosen a name she really liked, Cinderella was her chosen name.

Names are given to us by our parents, it used to be the sons were named after granddads and daughters after grandmas, so in Ireland there are lots of Marys and Patricks, years later legions of John-Pauls. My own name is Michael which may mean I was named after the Arch-Angel, or like the Lord. People try to shorten names to prove they are close to you, Michael may become Mike. Me, I like M I  C H A E L and I don’t answer to anything else, I once wore a dickie-bow  for a day to reinforce the fact that I was MICHAEL, that was 1979, yes I am that old but I do look good for my age, even with my early silver hair. Its patronising for folks to shorten your name and put their arm around you, then they steal your land, that’s how it was in the olden days.

A name can be a title, Captain on a ship or on a plane, though “captain” on a sinking ship has another meaning, it’s just mocking somebody’s ability. So names invest us with power and authority, though Prime Minister in Italy for example has other connotations, it means more Bunga Bunga and less actual politics. Titles are confusing though, a student studies medicine for 6 years to become a Dr, then studies for 3 more years to become a Mr, then maybe 6 more years of study to become a Professor, me I’m not even a Mr, plain Michael Casey is enough for me.

As you study you gain letters to put after your name, so Michael Casey PhD, that’s if I ever studied for 6 years, I doubt if I could ever gain a PhD for writing blogs on  https://michaelgcaseyfrombirminghamengland.wordpress.com or for my 5 books on Amazon Kindle, though if anybody ever wants to give me an honour then I’ll snatch it from your hand. I worked very hard in a 4 star hotel for 3 years so I know how to accept any freebies, though a PhD would be the ultimate freebie. People with PhDs discover they are classified as medically trained when they are put on a plane and then they are asked to sort out medical emergencies, so what do they do to avoid this? They removed their title from after their name and become plain old Mr again.

Names denote love and a link to a time in our lives, so a child may be called April because it was raining April showers so the parents stayed home instead of going out and conceived little April. Holly may mean a child was born at Christmas or conceived at Christmas, or just called Derek. Who knows but a name has to last a lifetime, so pick something nice, Kylie may be ok for a singer but do give your child a break, Florence is a nice name and it reminds us of the Magic Roundabout, and what could be better than that.