We are reminded of Jesus’ last command before he ascended into heaven, to make this good news of God’s love known by all peoples so that God’s name may be hallowed by all.Īs part of this Lenten journey, you can pray the Our Father every day, slowly and gently, dwelling on the different petitions. Moreover this petition makes us ask ourselves to what extent we really wish that all may come to know God, or whether we are content that we have a good relationship with him. We pray to lead good lives so that our witness may enable more men and women to recognise God’s name as holy.Īs we pray the Our Father we realise how our prayer and the way we live are closely united. (Mt 5:16) We do not perform good deeds to impress others, even less to impress God, but it is only natural that if we lead good lives others will be attracted to give glory to our Father in heaven. These words also remind us of what Jesus said shortly before teaching us the Our Father: ‘ I n the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven’. We aspire to join the angels, saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy’. May this relationship grow stronger, may our steps be enlightened by this loving presence of our Father in our life. On the one hand we are asking to recognise ever more our Father’s loving, powerful presence among us and within us: he is our Father, and we pray that this fact may take real and deep roots in our hearts and minds. This is effectively fulfilled in us when “people see our good works and glorify our Father who is in heaven”. And so when we say to him: “Hallowed be your name,” we are saying in other words: Make us such, Father, that we may deserve to understand and grasp how great your hallowing is and, of course, that you may appear as hallowed in our spiritual way of life. John Cassian, writing in the 5 th century, says this about this petition: ‘The hallowing of God is our perfection. There is amazing, awe-inspiring power in the hallowed name of our God.‘Our Father, Hallowed be your name’ (Troverete il testo in italiano ed in albanese in fondo alla pagina)įather, may your name be made holy! It is not immediately evident what we are praying for in this petition: certainly God does not need our prayers so that his name is made holy, it is holy of itself and cannot be made holier by our prayer. In God's name, mountains move, chains are loosed, sickness is cancelled, things that aren't are called into being. God's name is a name that roars like a lion to the principalities of this world and causes them to shrink back. But thanks be to God that there is no name holier and more hallowed than the name of God. If it were not then God would not be God at all and we would not have refuge and safety. Proverbs 18:10 tells us, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous man runs into it and is safe." There is power in God's name because it is hallowed and holy. It's by Jesus' name also that we pray all these things and declare that things be so. It's by His name that His identity marked by grace and love gives us even the right to come into His presence. Jesus teaches us to start off prayer by getting a revelation of God's hallowed name because it is in His name that we find the power that grants our prayers. The holiness of God's name also speaks to us of how much power it has. We may not wash our hands before and after we write the name of God, but we are to inspect our hearts as we speak of His name because it is so holy to God.
That's how revered, magnified and glorified the name of God is. It's so revered that when a scribe writes the name, he has to wash his hands before and after he writes it. And to Hebrew scribes, the name 'Yahweh' is one of the most revered words. One of God's names in the Bible is 'Yahweh', which is the name we refer to when we speak about God the Father. Taking God's name in vain refers to treating the Lord Himself in a frivolous, light manner. We say those words so many times, but do we truly know what it means for God's name to be holy? Do we truly understand the power in the name of God so that we are to view it as powerful and sacred and not something to be taken lightly?Įxodus 20:7 commands us, "You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." The word 'vain' used in this context is the Hebrew word 'shav', which means emptiness of speech, vanity, falsehood, lying, deceptive uselessness. Hallowed is another word for Holy or Sacred. The Lord's Prayer starts off with teaching us to pray "Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name." But what does it mean when we say God's name is "hallowed?"
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