6. Sanctify His Name

The sixth commandment in Mosaic Law is to sanctify His name.

Where in scripture?

Leviticus 22:32

…and do not profane my holy name; in the midst of the Israelites I, the LORD, must be held as sacred.

New Testament references

Matthew 6:9 

"This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name"

Catechism of the Catholic Church

I. "HALLOWED BE THY NAME"

2807 The term "to hallow" is to be understood here not primarily in its causative sense (only God hallows, makes holy), but above all in an evaluative sense: to recognize as holy, to treat in a holy way. And so, in adoration, this invocation is sometimes understood as praise and thanksgiving (Ps 111:9; Lk 1:49). But this petition is here taught to us by Jesus as an optative: a petition, a desire, and an expectation in which God and man are involved. Beginning with this first petition to our Father, we are immersed in the innermost mystery of his Godhead and the drama of the salvation of our humanity. Asking the Father that his name be made holy draws us into his plan of loving kindness for the fullness of time, "according to his purpose which he set forth in Christ," that we might "be holy and blameless before him in love ( Eph 1:9,4)."

2808 In the decisive moments of his economy God reveals his name, but he does so by accomplishing his work. This work, then, is realized for us and in us only if his name is hallowed by us and in us.

2813 In the waters of Baptism, we have been "washed . . . sanctified . . . justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God (2 Cor 6:11)". Our Father calls us to holiness in the whole of our life, and since "he is the source of [our] life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and . . .sanctification, (1 Cor 1:30; cf. 1 Thess 4:7)" both his glory and our life depend on the hallowing of his name in us and by us. Such is the urgency of our first petition.

Early Church Fathers

St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermo 71,4:PL 52:402A

We ask God to hallow his name, which by its own holiness saves and makes holy all creation . . . . It is this name that gives salvation to a lost world. But we ask that this name of God should be hallowed in us through our actions. For God's name is blessed when we live well, but is blasphemed when we live wickedly. As the Apostle says: "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." We ask then that, just as the name of God is holy, so we may obtain his holiness in our souls.

Tertullian, De orat. 3:PL 1:1157A

When we say "hallowed be thy name," we ask that it should be hallowed in us, who are in him; but also in others whom God's grace still awaits, that we may obey the precept that obliges us to pray for everyone, even our enemies. That is why we do not say expressly "hallowed be thy name 'in us,"' for we ask that it be so in all men.

Discussion

When we text message or blurt out OMG, we are probably not sanctifying His name.

Conclusion

Binding on Christians