Youcat commented through CCC – Question n. 359 – Part II.

YOUCAT Question n. 359 – Part II. Why does God want us to “hallow” his name (that is, keep it holy)?

(Youcat answer - repeated) 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.     

A deepening through CCC

(CCC 2144) Respect for his name is an expression of the respect owed to the mystery of God himself and to the whole sacred reality it evokes. The sense of the sacred is part of the virtue of religion: Are these feelings of fear and awe Christian feelings or not?...  I say this, then, which I think no one can reasonably dispute. They are the class of feelings we should have - yes, have to an intense degree - if we literally had the sight of Almighty God; therefore they are the class of feelings which we shall have, if we realize His presence. In proportion as we believe that He is present, we shall have them; and not to have them, is not to realize, not to believe that He is present (John Henry Cardinal Newman, Parochial and Plain Sermons V, 2 [London:  Longmans, Green and Co., 1907] 21-22).   

Reflecting and meditating 

(Youcat comment) 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.   

(CCC Comment)

(CCC 2145) The faithful should bear witness to the Lord's name by confessing the faith without giving way to fear (Cf. Mt 10:32; 1 Tim 6:12). Preaching and catechizing should be permeated with adoration and respect for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.   

 
(This question: Why does God want us to “hallow” his name (that is, keep it holy)? is continued)