Let me know your name, Lord, and help me to understand who you are and who I truly am. Show me how to treat your name with reverence. Help me to understand that I am like a letter you have written and signed: whenever I keep your commandments, I bring your name to others.
Each person’s name has special importance. Our names identify who we are. From the perspective of the Bible, however, a name is something even more: it reveals the person who carries it, and announces his or her role or mission.
In a way, a person’s name “is” the person. It reveals to others the deepest “self” of the one who bears it. Because of this, certain people we read about in the Bible received a new name at the moment in which their life changed.
When Jesus called Simon to discipleship, he gave Simon the new name “Peter,” which means “rock.” As the first “rock” of the Church, Peter was given the mission to provide a foundation for believers in Christ and guidance in living the faith.
The second commandment forbids saying God’s name in vain. This includes cursing, using vulgar language associated with the name of God, speaking about God disrespectfully, or making a false oath or a false promise.
But the second commandment also teaches us to guard against using God’s name in a thoughtless way or for no reason. And there is the possibility of using God’s name to make people feel guilty and do something that you—not God—want them to do. Deceiving others in this way is using God’s name for one’s own selfish interest.
Sometimes we abuse God’s name by treating it as if it were some kind of good luck charm. Maybe we remember God only when there is an important event, school assignment, game, or something we want to go well for us. When we call on God in order to escape our responsibility, we use God’s name in vain.
Jesus himself speaks about this commandment and warns, “You have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely....But I say to you, Do not swear at all....Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’” (Mt 5:33, 34, 37). We must not make use of God’s name to make ourselves look important. We must only speak honestly and tell what we know without using God to give our words greater importance. Besides, Jesus affirms that it is not enough to “talk” about God if our actions don’t reflect our words: “Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven” (Mt 7:21).
The best way to “speak” the name of God is to do his will. Jesus reminds us of this in the prayer he taught us, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt 6:9–10).
And finally, there is a truly misguided way of using God’s name in vain: that is, to justify war in the name of God. No act of aggression or violence can be made right by claiming that it is the will of God, though many nations throughout history have tried to do so.
“No more violence! No more war! No more terrorism! May every religion bring justice and peace, forgiveness and life upon the earth. Love.”
Saint John Paul II in Assisi in 2002
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Do you remember God throughout the day? |
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Have there been occasions in which you felt closer to God? |
\ Do you know the Prayer of the Name of Jesus? is a way of prayer that is dear to Christians who belong to the Eastern Churches. The prayer is very simple: Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. Try the prayer yourself or turn to Jesus with a brief phrase (for example: “Jesus, stay with me,” or even, “Jesus, I believe in you”). While reciting the prayer, remain seated, stay still, and close your eyes. Repeat the words several times, slowly and softly, allowing them to touch the depths of your heart. Jesus’s name means “the one who saves”! |
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Try turning to Jesus with the Prayer of the Name, and then write or share about your experience of this prayer. |
