Read the Catechism in a Year
Day 256 - The Second Commandment
The Second Commandment: You Shall Not Take the Name of the Lord Your God in Vain.
Why does God want us to “hallow” his name (that is, keep it holy)?
To tell someone your name is a sign of trust. Since God has told us his name, he makes himself recognizable and grants us access to him through this name. God is absolute truth. Someone who calls Truth himself by his name but uses it to testify to a lie sins seriously.
One must not pronounce the name of God irreverently. For we know him only because he has entrusted himself to us. The Holy Name, after all, is the key to the heart of the Almighty. Therefore it is a terrible offense to blaspheme God, to curse using God’s name, or to make false promises in his name. The Second Commandment is therefore also a commandment that protects “holiness” in general. Places, things, names, and people who have been touched by God are “holy”. Sensitivity to what is holy is called reverence.
What is the meaning of the Sign of the Cross?
Through the Sign of the Cross we place ourselves under the protection of the Triune God.
At the beginning of the day, at the beginning of a prayer, but also at the beginning of important undertakings, a Christian makes the Sign of the Cross over himself and thus starts his business “in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit”. We are surrounded on all sides by the Triune God; calling upon him by name sanctifies the things we set out to do; it obtains blessings for us and strengthens us in difficulties and temptations. (YOUCAT questions 359-360)
Dig Deeper: Corresponding CCC section (2142-2157) and other references here.
Excellent resources.
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