Summaries of Catholic Teaching.
Topic 32:
THE 2ND COMMANDMENT,
“YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE LORD’S NAME IN VAIN.”

1. The second commandment

The second commandment of God’s Law is You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. This commandment “prescribes respect for the Lord’s name” ( Catechism 2142), and commands us to honor the name of God. The Lord’s name is not to be pronounced “except to bless, praise, and glorify it” (Catechism 2143).

1.1 The name of God

“A name expresses a person’s essence and identity and the meaning of this person’s life. God has a name; he is not an anonymous force” ( Catechism 203). However, God cannot be grasped through human concepts; no idea can represent him and no name can exhaustively express the divine essence. God is “Holy,” which means that he is absolutely superior, that he is above any creature, that he is transcendent.

Nevertheless, so that we can invoke him and speak to him, in the Old Testament he “revealed himself progressively and under different names to his people” ( Catechism 204). The name he revealed to Moses indicates that God is Being in essence, the fullness of being and of every perfection. “God said to Moses, ‘I Am who I Am.’ And he said, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: I Am [Yahweh: He is ] has sent me to you’…’ This is my name for ever” ( Ex 3:13-15; (cf. Catechism 213). Out of respect for God’s holiness, the people of Israel never pronounced this name, replacing it rather by the title “Lord” ( Adonai in Hebrew, Kyrios in Greek) (cf. Catechism 209). There are other names for God in the Old Testament: Elohim , the majestic plural of plenitude or grandeur, and El-Saddai , which means mighty, omnipotent.

In the New Testament, God makes known the mystery of his intimate Trinitarian life: a single God in three Persons—Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Christ teaches us to call God “Father” (Mt 6:9), “Abba,” which is the familiar way of saying “father” in Hebrew (cf. Rom 8:15). God is the Father of Christ and our Father, but not in the same way: Jesus is the Only-begotten Son and we are adopted children. But we truly are children (cf. 1 Jn 3:1), brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ (cf. Rom 8:29), because the Holy Spirit has been sent into our hearts and we participate in the divine nature (cf. Gal 4:6; 2 Pet 1:4). We are children of God in Christ. As a consequence we can address God as “Father.” St. Josemaria wrote: “God is a Father who is full of tenderness, of infinite love. Call him ‘Father ‘ many times a day and tell him—alone, in your heart—that you love him, that you adore him, that you feel proud and strong because you are his son.” [1]

1.2 Honoring God’s name

In the Our Father we pray: “Hallowed be thy name.” The term “hallowed” means in this context “to recognize as holy, to treat in a holy way” (Catechism 2807). This is what we do when we adore, praise or give thanks to God. But “hallowed be thy name” is also one of the petitions of the Our Father: in saying it we ask that his name be hallowed through us, that is, that we give him glory by our life and that others may glorify him (cf. Mt 5:16). “The sanctification of his name among the nations depends inseparably on our life and our prayer” (Catechism 2814).

Respecting the name of God also calls for respecting the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the saints, and respecting holy things where God is present in one way or another, especially the Holy Eucharist, the real Presence among us of Jesus Christ, Second Person of the Holy Trinity.

The second commandment forbids the improper use of God’s name (cf. Catechism 2146), and especially blasphemy , which “consists in uttering against God—inwardly or outwardly—words of hatred, reproach, or defiance… It is also blasphemous to make use of God’s name to cover up criminal practices, to reduce peoples to servitude, to torture persons or put them to death … Blasphemy … is in itself a grave sin” ( Catechism 2148).

It also forbids false oaths (cf. Catechism 2850). Taking an oath is to take God as a witness for what is affirmed (for example, to guarantee a promise or a testimony, to prove the innocence of a person unjustly accused or suspected, or to put an end to litigation and controversy, etc.). There are circumstances when an oath is lawful if it is taken in truth and justice, and if it is necessary, as may be the case in a trial or on assuming office (cf. Catechism 2154). Otherwise, the Lord teaches us not to swear: Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (Mt 5:37; cf. Jas 5:12; Catechism 2153).

1.3 The name of a Christian

Man “is the only creature on earth that God has willed for its own sake.” [2] He is not “something” but “someone,” a person. “He alone is called to share, by knowledge and love, in God’s own life. It was for this end that he was created, and this is the fundamental reason for his dignity” (Catechism 356). In baptism, on being made a child of God, each person receives a name that represents his or her unrepeatable singularity before God and before others (cf. Catechism 2156, 2158). Baptism is also called “christening.” A “Christian,” a follower of Jesus Christ, is the proper name of every baptized person, who has received the call to identify himself with the Lord: it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called ‘Christians’ (Acts 11:26).

God calls each person by name (cf. 1 Sam 3:4-10; Is 43:1; Jn 10:3; Acts 9:4). He loves each one personally. Christ, says St Paul, loved me and gave himself up for me (Gal 2:20). He expects from everyone a loving response: you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mk 12:30) Nobody else can give God this response of love in our place. St Josemaria encourages us to meditate “calmly that divine admonition which fills the soul with disquiet and which at the same time tastes as sweet as honey from the comb: redemi te, et vocavi te, nomine tuo: meus es tu ( Is 43:1); I have redeemed you and called you by your name: you are mine! Let us not steal from God what belongs to him. A God who has loved us to the point of dying for us, who has chosen us from all eternity, before the creation of the world, so that we may be holy in his presence (cf. Eph 1:4).” [3]

THE SECOND COMMANDMENT:
YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN
COMPENDIUM OF THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH NN. 447-449

447. How does one respect the holiness of the Name of God?
2142-2149
2160-2162
One shows respect for the holy Name of God by blessing it, praising it and glorifying it. It is forbidden, therefore, to call on the Name of God to justify a crime. It is also wrong to use the holy Name of God in any improper way as in blasphemy (which by its nature is a grave sin), curses, and unfaithfulness to promises made in the Name of God.

448. Why is a false oath forbidden?
2150-2151
2163-2164 
It is forbidden because one calls upon God who is truth itself to be the witness to a lie.
“Do not swear, whether by the Creator or by any creature, except truthfully, of necessity and with reverence.” (Saint Ignatius of Loyola)

449. What is perjury?
2152-2155
Perjury is to make a promise under oath with the intention of not keeping it or to violate a promise made under oath. It is a grave sin against God who is always faithful to his promises.

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