588. What does “Hallowed be thy Name” mean? (part 1)
(Comp 588) To hallow or make holy the
Name of God is above all a prayer of praise that acknowledges God as holy. In
fact, God revealed his holy Name to Moses and wanted his people to be
consecrated for him as a holy nation in which he would dwell.
“In brief”
(CCC 2858) By asking
"hallowed be thy name" we enter into God's plan, the sanctification
of his name - revealed first to Moses and then in Jesus - by us and in us, in
every nation and in each man.
To deepen and explain
(CCC 2807 The term "to hallow" is to be understood
here not primarily in its causative sense (only God hallows, makes holy), but
above all in an evaluative sense: to recognize as holy, to treat in a holy way.
And so, in adoration, this invocation is sometimes understood as praise and
thanksgiving (Cf. Ps 111:9; Lk 1:49). But this petition is here taught to us by
Jesus as an optative: a petition, a desire, and an expectation in which God and
man are involved. Beginning with this first petition to our Father, we are
immersed in the innermost mystery of his Godhead and the drama of the salvation
of our humanity. Asking the Father that his name be made holy draws us into his
plan of loving kindness for the fullness of time, "according to his
purpose which he set forth in Christ," that we might "be holy and
blameless before him in love" (Eph 1:9, 4).
Reflection
(CCC 2808) In the decisive moments of his economy God
reveals his name, but he does so by accomplishing his work. This work, then, is
realized for us and in us only if his name is hallowed by us and in us. [IT CONTINUES]
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