Musings, Insights & Briefings

Erika Ahern on February 29, 2024

What You Can Do When People Use the Lord’s Name in Vain Left and Right

      A LOOPer recently wrote to the CatholicVote team suggesting we address a pervasive problem: The use of the Lord’s Name in vain in the public square. It’s everywhere! On TV shows, in your kids’ school – even in commercials and children’s programming. But as Catholics, I think we should do more than just gripe about it. Here are five ways you can start defending the Holy Name of God today.

ONE - Meditate on the tradition of the holiness of God’s Name, which stretches back to when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. After all, the second of those Commandments was “Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vain.” Christians worldwide also acknowledge the sacredness of His Name every time we pray the Our Father: “Hallowed be Thy Name.” For inspiration, look to the Angelic Doctor! St. Thomas Aquinas offers A Simple Reflection on the “six ways to use the Name of God justly.” 

TWO - Speak up! In all likelihood, you are already in a position to reduce the number of blasphemies against God’s Name daily. Whenever a friend or acquaintance is careless with the Name of God, you have an opportunity to defend Him.

Be careful with this one – it’s no good coming across as a scold, and the use of “God” and “Jesus” as cheap exclamations in everyday speech has become so common that many individual offenders can hardly be blamed. Nonetheless, if you sense the possibility of a fruitful conversation, say with a close friend you know respects your opinion, go for it!

THREE - Use body language! I know of one recent Catholic convert who came up with an ingenious way of witnessing how seriously he takes God’s Name: Every time he hears someone misuse the Lord’s Name, he simply, quietly makes the sign of the cross. His method is unmistakable and, frankly, makes some people quite uncomfortable. If you’d like to do something similar but subtler, another option is to merely bow your head at the Name. In fact, for centuries, the rubrics of the Mass also required the faithful to bow their heads whenever they heard the name of Jesus.

FOUR - Here’s a fun one, which is especially useful to parents of children who are in danger of adopting the bad habit of using God’s Name in vain due to influences in media or school: find replacements!

In my own home, one child has developed the habit of shouting “Oh my biscuit!” in moments of severe frustration.

And for those who’ve really lost themselves to the all-too-common habit of blurting out “Oh my God!” or “Jesus!” in vain, try this: Rescue those exclamations by transforming them into prayers. “Oh my God!” you might shout in surprise. “Have mercy on us!” you could add. And after “Jesus!” you might recite “I trust in You!”

FIVE - This isn’t the first time in history people have blasphemed, and the Church has a long tradition of encouraging the faithful to make amends for the abuse of God’s Name. That’s right, you can honor God by making “acts of reparation” for the use of His Name in vain – even on behalf of others.

Here is an "act of reparation for blasphemies uttered against the Holy Name of Jesus":

The month of January is traditionally dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus.
This feast is also celebrated on January 3.

Prayer:

O Jesus, my Savior and Redeemer, Son of the living God, behold, we kneel before Thee and offer Thee our reparation; we would make amends for all the blasphemies uttered against Thy holy name, for all the injuries done to Thee in the Blessed Sacrament, for all the irreverence shown toward Thine immaculate Virgin Mother, for all the calumnies and slanders spoken against Thy spouse, the holy Catholic and Roman Church. O Jesus, who hast said: "If you ask the Father anything in My name, He will give it to you," we pray and beseech Thee for all our brethren who are in danger of sin; shield them from every temptation to fall away from the true faith; save those who are even now standing on the brink of the abyss; to all of them give light and knowledge of the truth, courage and strength for the conflict with evil, perseverance in faith and active charity! For this do we pray, most merciful Jesus, in Thy name, unto God the Father, with whom Thou livest and reignest in the unity of the Holy Ghost world without end. Amen.

Prayer Source: Prayer Book, The by Reverend John P. O'Connell, M.A., S.T.D. and Jex Martin, M.A., The Catholic Press, Inc., Chicago, Illinois, 1954

You can find many other acts of reparation, including for insults against Our Lady and St. Joseph (think of the flippant use of “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!”), with a quick search online.

And for right now, here’s a quick and simple prayer of reparation “for blasphemy and the not keeping of holy days” from the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest:

Prayer of Reparation

A prayer in reparation for blasphemy and the not keeping of holy days.
Entrusted to the French Carmelite nun of the 19th century, Sr. Marie de Saint Pierre, OCD.

May the most Holy, most Sacred, most Adorable, most Incomprehensible, and Unutterable Name of God, be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored, and glorified, in Heaven, on Earth, and under the Earth, by all the creatures of God, and by
the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.

Article Source: The Catholic Vote