IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring
By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The power of God’s name is manifested
in the lives of people who live their faith in an authentic way, while it is taken in vain by
those who live in hypocrisy, Pope Francis said.
By adhering to the commandment to not take the name of the
Lord in vain, Christians can show the beauty of baptism and the Eucharist, as well as
“the sublime union there is between our body and the body of Christ; he in
us and us in him,” the pope said Aug. 22 during his weekly general
audience.
“If there were more Christians who would take upon
themselves the name of God without falsehood, practicing the first request of
the Our Father — ‘hallowed be thy name’ — the proclamation of the church
would be heard more and become
more credible,” he said.
Continuing his series of talks on the Ten Commandments, the
pope turned to the Second
Commandment, which he said is correctly interpreted
as “an invitation to not offend the name of God and use it
inappropriately.”
Recalling its Hebrew and Greek translations, Pope Francis
said the Second Commandment means not taking upon one’s
self the name of God “in a way that is devoid of content” and
shrouded in hypocrisy, formalities and lies.
The commandment, he said, is a reminder for Christians of
their baptism and the call “to live out our daily actions in a real and
heartfelt communion with God, that is, in his love.”
However, Christians may also succumb to the temptation of
“taking upon themselves the name of God in a hypocritical way” and
“living a
false relationship with God.”
A sincere relationship with God, the pope explained, is seen
not only in the lives of the saints, but also in the lives of the “saints
next door,” especially “parents who give their children the example
of a coherent, simple, honest and generous life.”
The
Second Commandment, he said, “is precisely the invitation to a relationship
with God without hypocrisy, to a relationship in which we entrust him with all
that we are.”
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