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It’s Day 278!!
ARTICLE 2: THE SECOND COMMANDMENT
THE NAME OF THE LORD IS HOLY
“You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain.”
Also, “You shall not swear falsely, but I say to you, do not swear at all.”
In our day and age, the name of the Lord is a curse word
The name of our Lord is taken in virtually every context
It is seen in TV shows and movies etc.
The name of the Lord is blasphemed so often
In revealing His name to us, God has entrusted Himself to us in this profound and deeply personal way
So we have to have the spirit of fear, awe, and trembling when it comes to the Lord’s name
Let’s pray!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and we give you glory. We thank you. We thank you for bringing us to this moment, and we thank you for revealing your name to us. We thank you for revealing your heart to us that in disclosing your name to us, Lord God, you have entrusted your heart to us. You have entrusted yourself to us. Help us to never, never ignore, be indifferent towards, misuse, or abuse your name. Lord God, please protect us from this sin. And please help us to make reparation for any sins against your name. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”
So there we have it!!
INCREDIBLE!!
So many sins have become mainstream
So many grave sins have become commonplace
God has entrusted…
SQUIRREL!! 😉
Let’s listen to Fr. Mike’s story about his friend, Nick…
There are certain cultures that practice the occult and voodoo
If someone reveals their name to them, it makes them vulnerable
It is one of the reasons why during exorcisms, the exorcist commands the demon in Jesus’ name to reveal their name
When they reveal their name, they become vulnerable
To share one’s name is to share oneself
It is to make yourself vulnerable
What does God do?
In the course of Revelation, God reveals His sacred name
He has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ
The name of Jesus is remarkable
The name of Jesus is His presence and His presence is His Power
When we utter the name of Jesus, He is present
If we actually had respect and fear of the Lord, we would never ever utter the sacred name of Jesus carelessly
AND YET…
What happens?
We say things like “oh my God” all the time
We say “Jesus Christ” when we get cut off in traffic
To do this is a direct sin against the Second Commandment
John Henry Cardinal Newman says in Paragraph 2144, “Are these feelings of fear and awe Christian feelings or not?...I say this, then, which I think no one can reasonably dispute. They are the class of feelings we should have-yes, have to an intense degree-if we literally had the sight of Almighty God; therefore they are the class of feelings which we shall have, if we realize His presence. In proportion as we believe that He is present, we shall have them; and not to have them, is not to realize, not to believe that He is present.”
Think about all the times in Scripture when God reveals Himself to someone and they fall down as though dead
John, the beloved disciple, was one of Jesus’ best friends and even took care of Mary for the remainder of her life on earth etc.
In the Book of Revelation, he turns around and he sees Jesus in His glory and falls down as though dead
Even if we have an intimate friendship with Jesus, if we come face to face with God Himself it is overwhelming
No one can see the Face of God and live
If we believe to a small degree that God is present then we have a small degree of fear and awe
Think about the context of Adoration or the Mass
Jesus is fully, substantially, truly present in His Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity
If we nonchalantly approach Him, maybe that reveals that we only believe that He is present to a certain degree
To not have those feelings of fear and awe is not to realize or not to believe that He is present
Maybe we didn’t know
Maybe we were ignorant of the whole thing
The same thing is true when it comes to the sacred name of Jesus and the sacred name of God
Here’s another story by Fr. Mike…
“Christianity is the only religion where the believers would actually use the name of their God as a curse word.”
Now Fr. Mike is talking about Mrs. Anderson…
Wow!! Fr. Mike got sent to the principal’s office!!!
Oh man….Fr. Mike’s principal was a nun!!!!! Ouch!!!!
We need to take it seriously
Paragraph 2146 says, “The second commandment forbids the abuse of God’s name, i.e., every improper use of the names of God, Jesus Christ, but also of the Virgin Mary and all the saints.”
Paragraph 2145 says, “The faithful should bear witness to the Lord’s name by confessing the faith without giving way to fear. Preaching and catechizing should be permeated with adoration and respect for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Remember, one of the five effects of Confirmation is that you are given a special strength to spread and defend the Faith by word and deed, to never be ashamed of the Cross, and to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ boldly
One of the dangers of teaching or preaching in the Church is we become so accustomed to holy things that we can start treating these holy things as if they are just simply normal things or common objects
The same is true with the name of the Lord
We treat the holy name of the Lord as a common name
Paragraph 2147 says, “Promises made to others in God’s name engage the divine honor, fidelity, truthfulness, and authority. They must be respected in justice. To be unfaithful to them is to misuse God’s name and in some way to make God out to be a liar.”
Paragraph 2148 says, “Blasphemy is directly opposed to the second commandment. It consists in uttering against God-inwardly or outwardly-words of hatred, reproach, or defiance; in speaking ill of God; in failing in respect toward him in one’s speech; in misusing God’s name…”
When it says INWARDLY, it means the willed choice
It doesn’t just mean a thought passes through your mind
Blasphemy must be intentionally chosen
At the same time, our prayer must be honest
Maybe you are in a moment where you are struggling a lot like Job
What does Job do?
Job has three words of lament
In some ways, Job’s words are a reproach against God and he is speaking words of defiance in some ways
BUT…
He is calling out to God for help but he is being honest about it
This is the tightrope we have to walk
There is being honest with the Lord about what we are going through
There is questioning God
These are as opposed to words of defiance or words of reproach or words of hatred
We have to speak honestly of God and honestly to God
BUT…
We always have to make sure our speech and prayer is on the side of honesty of a son to His beloved Father
Even if we don’t understand
Even if we are in our season of Job
Even if we are in the midst of suffering
We can cry out honestly and ask questions
We need to make sure our prayer is always honest
Whenever we approach the Lord, we know that God is good even if we are going through the trial of our life
Paragraph 2149 says, “Oaths which misuse God’s name, though without the intention of blasphemy, show lack of respect for the Lord. The second commandment also forbids magical use of the divine name. [God’s] name is great when spoken with respect for the greatness of his majesty. God’s name is holy when said with veneration and fear of offending him.”
Whenever it comes to God, things of God, holy things and His Holy Name, we need to have the utmost care and approach them as they are sacred and holy
We always have to approach the Lord’s name as we approach He, Himself
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you at some point in the not-too-distant future!!
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