It is a wonderful dream. In the depths of sleep, I hear a voice call my name. The voice is that of someone whom I have not seen or heard for years in real life. They have gone to be with God. But, in my dream, their voice is clear, warm, and as alive with love as it ever was.
I wake then, full of yearning, full of love. The memory fills me with both tears and joy. How precious is the voice of my name spoken, from love to love!
Such dreams do not happen to me often, but they are wonderful when they do. Today, the thought of them comes as I consider today’s Gospel.
Today’s Gospel
The setting for today’s Gospel is Jerusalem during Holy Week. As Matthew tells the story of the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, the first thing Jesus did after coming to Jerusalem was to “clean out” the temple. He drove out all those who were buying and selling. “My house shall be called a house of prayer,” he quoted from Hebrew scriptures, “but you have made it a den of thieves.” Then he stayed in the temple area and began to heal the blind and lame who came to him.
The next day he came back to the temple. The chief priests and elders had had time to think about all that had happened the day before. They questioned Jesus, and he questioned them back. He told them three parables (the Two Sons, the Wicked Tenants, and the Wedding Banquet—Matthew 21-22). They were all pretty much aimed at those leaders, particularly at the difference in the fidelity to God they claimed and their actual behavior that was often the opposite of what God said in his Law.
Now, in Chapter 23, Jesus names their hypocrisy. He speaks of their wanting to be perceived by people as holy, rather than really being holy. He names how their interpretations of the Law are so rigid that ordinary people can’t possibly comply—and, how, actually they don’t comply either. Then he begins this passage in today’s Gospel,
“Woe to you, blind guides, who say,
‘If one swears by the temple, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gold of the temple, one is obligated.’
Blind fools, which is greater, the gold,
or the temple that made the gold sacred?
And you say, ‘If one swears by the altar, it means nothing,
but if one swears by the gift on the altar, one is obligated.’
You blind ones, which is greater, the gift,
or the altar that makes the gift sacred?“
It is a passage that did not mean much to me until a priest explained it in a homily. Here Jesus is talking about the second of the Ten Commandments, “The Name of the Lord is Holy.”
What Does It Mean: “The Name of the Lord is Holy”?
In ancient cultures, to know someone’s name meant to have a close, intimate relationship. You might remember that when Moses stood in front of the burning bush, he asked God, “What is your name?”
“I am who am,” God answered, often translated Yahweh, or, in Hebrew, “Yhwh,” because the name of God was so precious to them that they wrote it without vowels, so it could not be spoken.
The name of God was holy—special, set apart, a sign of intimacy, identity, and love. It was a name spoken with deep love—like the voice speaking in my dreams. It was meant to elicit in God the deep connection, God to soul, that a voice of love elicits.
I think, too, of a Becket print I have of St. Mary Magdalene on Easter morning. The title of it is “Rabbouni,” It simply shows Mary’s face and Jesus’ nail-marked hand touching it. In a very simple way it speaks of the great love expressed as Jesus called her name—and she responded with her name for him, “Rabbouni,” Teacher.
In Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, “You shall not swear at all.” (Matthew 5: 33-34) Here, as Matthew circles back around recording Jesus’ Holy Week conversations, he repeats much of the core of that Sermon on the Mount. Here, Matthew says, “Do not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain” by naming some of the ways that the religious leaders literally “played” with God’s name in the way they made oaths—using it to confuse people and to misuse both God’s name and faith in him.
The Catechism on the Second Commandment
The big green USCCB catechism has only five pages on the second commandment. It begins with paragraph 2142 and ends with 2167. It tells us:
- The Lord’s name is holy…For this reason a person will not “introduce it into his speech except to bless, praise, and glorify it.” (2143)
- The second commandment forbids the abuse of God’s name, i.e., every improper use of the names of God, Jesus Christ, and also of the Virgin Mary and all the saints. (2146)
- Blasphemy is directly opposed to the second commandment. It consists in uttering against God—inwardly or outwardly—words of hatred, reproach, or defiance, in speaking ill of God; in failing in respect toward him in one’s speech; in misusing God’s name.” (2148)
- The holiness of the divine name demands that we do not use it for trivial matters. (2155)
- A Christian begins his day with the Sign of the Cross, “in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” The baptized person dedicates his day to the glory of God (2157)
The religious leaders were using God’s name carelessly by playing with exactly what an oath or promise meant. Probably, sometimes we do that, too.
But, it seems to me that we most misuse God’s name around “trivial matters.” This includes saying, “Oh my God!” in conversation, when it means, “I am very surprised or disturbed!”. It means peppering emails and texts with OMG. It means saying, “God, yes!” or “God, no!”
I used to think that “Honor the name of God” meant that, if you cussed, you didn’t put God’s name in it. That’s true—but today’s Gospel and the catechism tell us it is so much more.
Prayer:
Lord, help Your Name to always be precious to me and honored by me. When I say Your Name in prayer or conversation, may it always mean I am talking to You or about You in a way that recalls the tenderness of Mary Magdalene and Jesus on Easter morning or voices of those whom I have loved who speak in dreams. Let my use of Your Name always give You honor and glory. Let every use of Your Name recall Your Holiness as described in Paul Wilbur’s song, “For Your Name is Holy.” “Lord I, worship You/I worship You/For Your name is Holy, Holy, Lord./For Your name is Holy, Holy, Lord.“
A YouTube presentation of Wilbur’s song can be found here. The Becket art print, “Rabbouni” can be found here.
