Council 112 This is the Faith December 2006

Tony Marino is an Air Force veteran who later received a degree in English Literature at Long Island University. For more than 30 years, he was an insurance agent for Aetna before eventually becoming a private insurance consultant. Since his retirement in 2003, he has devoted himself to the service of St. Peter's Parish in Concord and the Right to Life movement in New Hampshire. Tony has been married to his wife, Annette for more than 40 years. They have ten children and 22 grandchildren.

II. “YOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD YOUR GOD IN VAIN”

The name of the Lord is holy, and the Second Commandment requires that we show respect for that name. We should not introduce the name of God into our speech, unless it is to bless, praise, and glorify it. The respect we show to God’s name is an expression of the respect and love we show to God Himself. This commandment also forbids the improper use of the names of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and all of the Saints.

Promises made to others in God’s name engage the divine honor, fidelity, truthfulness and authority of God. As a result, these promises are very serious. To be unfaithful to them is a misuse of God’s name, and has the effect, in some ways, of involving God in our own deception. Likewise, an oath taken in God’s name, if broken, becomes a misuse of God’s name, and demonstrates a lack of respect for the Lord. We are forbidden to take false oaths. When we take an oath, we invoke divine truthfulness as a pledge to our own truthfulness. If that oath is false, we call on God to be a witness to a lie. Rejection of false oaths is a duty we owe to God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus teaches that oaths involve a reference to God, and that God’s presence and His truth must be honored in all speech. Following the tradition of St. Paul, the Church has always understood that the words of Jesus do not exclude oaths made for grave and right reasons, e.g. oaths taken in a court of law. Use of the divine name demands that oaths are not used for trivial matters.

In Baptism, the Lord’s name sanctifies man, and the Christian receives his name in the Church. That name can be the name of a saint who, as a disciple, lived an exemplary life of fidelity to the Lord, but it can also be a name that may express a Christian mystery, or Christian virtue. It should never be a name that is foreign to Christian sentiment.

Blasphemy consists of utterances against God, whether inwardly or outwardly. Using words of hatred, reproach, or defiance, speaking ill of Him, misusing His name, and using language against His Church, the saints, and sacred things are all considered blasphemous. To cover up criminal practices, to reduce people to servitude, to torture, and to put people to death are blasphemous as well. Blasphemy is contrary to the respect for God and His holy name, and is of itself a grave sin.

Please see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, pages 518 through 522, paragraphs 2142 through 2167. Read your catechism, it’s what we believe.

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