“HALLOWED BE THY NAME”: MEANING AND CONSEQUENCES.
Hallowed be thy name. This is the first desire we mention when we pray the Our Father. But what does it mean and what does this desire entail? Below you have an excerpt taken from In Conversation with God, vol., 5 (formatting mine to facilitate reading) which will surely help explain our queries.
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As soon as we have realized our dignity as children of God, we will experience the tenderness for our Parent that is felt by all true sons and daughters. We will no longer be thinking about our own interests. We will be fired with zeal for the glory of our Father. We will say to him: ‘Hallowed be thy name.‘ By this statement we affirm that all of our desires depend upon his glory.
In this, the first of seven petitions of the Our Father prayer, we ask that God be known, loved, honored, and served by the whole world, especially by ourselves. Jesus teaches us the right order of priority in our prayers. The first thing we should be praying for is the glory of God. This is truly the most important thing for us creatures who are so generally preoccupied by worldly concerns. Jesus told St Catherine of Siena: Be you concerned about me, and I will be concerned about you. The Lord will not leave us uncared for.
Hallowed by thy name. In Holy Scripture names have great significance. The name is related to the deepest identity of the person. It is for this reason that Jesus at the end of his earthly life summarized his teachings with these words: I have manifested thy name to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world? He revealed to mankind the mystery of God. In the Our Father we pray that God will be known and revered by all peoples. We also express our sorrow for the times when God’s name has been profaned, silenced or used with disrespect. When we say ‘hallowed be thy name’ we confirm our desire that the holy name of the Lord will be upheld and revered as sacred among men. We pray that his name will never be abused.
- There are some places where it seems that men do not want to mention the name of God. Instead of referring to the Creator, they speak of ‘divine wisdom.’
- Rather than speak of divine Providence, they speak of ‘destiny.’ At times these are no more than figures of speech. There are other occasions when we find that the name of God has been intentionally erased.
- We may have to overcome human respect to honor our Father intentionally. Without doing anything extraordinary, we should resolve to keep up Christian customs of speech. These customs do add the presence of God to our conversation. Good examples are ‘Thank God’ and ‘God willing.’5
- Yet we should not be the ones to bring God’s name into daily affairs in a negative way. The Second Commandment prohibits us from taking the Lord’s name in vain.
If we really love God, then we will sincerely love his holy name. We will never utter it in a disrespectful manner when we are impatient or surprised. This love for the name of God also extends to the name of Mary, his Mother, to the names of the saints and of all things consecrated to his service.
- We honor God in our hearts whenever we pray an act of reparation. We should offer this type of prayer when we encounter disrespect for God’s name, when someone has committed a sacrilege, when we get news of events that offend our Father in Heaven.
- We should take to our prayer those words of praise from the Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament: Blessed be God, Blessed be his holy name … We can say these prayers at any time during the course of the day, especially when some act of reparation is called for.
- Our reverence for the holy name of God will lead us to a deeper love for those prayers of praise, the Gloria and the Sanctus in the Holy Mass.
St Teresa has written: Take care not to miss this wonderful opportunity. Say the ‘Our Father’ slowly without rushing. He is listening very close to you. This is the best way to praise and honor his name.6
There are many short prayers which can help us to remain in the presence of God during the day: Father, hallowed be thy name, Blessed be God Blessed be his holy name, Blessed be the name of Jesus, Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
- Cassian, Conferences, 9, 18
- Catechism of St Pius X, 290
- John 17:6
- St Augustine, Letter 130, to Proba
- Jas 4:15
- St Teresa, The Way of Perfection, 31, 13
SEE AS WELL: THE SECOND COMMANDMENT. THOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN.
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