Copyright © 2006 By Doug Lawrence. All Rights Reserved.
Catechism Of The Catholic Church Reprinted With Permission.
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God’s Truth From The Catechism Of The Catholic Church – cont.
2809 The holiness of God is the inaccessible center of his eternal mystery. What is revealed of it
in creation and history, Scripture calls "glory," the radiance of his majesty.
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In making man in his
image and likeness, God "crowned him with glory and honor," but by sinning, man fell "short of the
glory of God."
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From that time on, God was to manifest his holiness by revealing and giving his
name, in order to restore man to the image of his Creator.
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2810 In the promise to Abraham and the oath that accompanied it,
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God commits himself but
without disclosing his name. He begins to reveal it to Moses and makes it known clearly before the
eyes of the whole people when he saves them from the Egyptians: "he has triumphed gloriously."
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From the covenant of Sinai onwards, this people is "his own" and it is to be a "holy (or
"consecrated": the same word is used for both in Hebrew) nation,"
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because the name of God
dwells in it.
2811 In spite of the holy Law that again and again their Holy God gives them - "You shall be holy,
for I the LORD your God am holy" - and although the Lord shows patience for the sake of his
name, the people turn away from the Holy One of Israel and profane his name among the
nations.
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For this reason the just ones of the old covenant, the poor survivors returned from exile,
and the prophets burned with passion for the name.
2812 Finally, in Jesus the name of the Holy God is revealed and given to us, in the flesh, as
Savior, revealed by what he is, by his word, and by his sacrifice.
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This is the heart of his priestly
prayer: "Holy Father . . . for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be consecrated in
truth."
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Because he "sanctifies" his own name, Jesus reveals to us the name of the Father.
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At
the end of Christ's Passover, the Father gives him the name that is above all names: "Jesus Christ
is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
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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."
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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,"
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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.
By whom is God hallowed, since he is the one who hallows? But since he said, "You shall
be holy to me; for I the LORD am holy," we seek and ask that we who were sanctified in
Baptism may persevere in what we have begun to be. And we ask this daily, for we need
sanctification daily, so that we who fail daily may cleanse away our sins by being sanctified
continually. . . . We pray that this sanctification may remain in us.
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2814 The sanctification of his name among the nations depends inseparably on our life and our
prayer:
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.
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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.
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