The Second Commandment is often stated as “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.” 

 

As was the case for the First Commandment, keeping the second involves several things. Most obviously, it calls for showing proper respect to and for God’s name. 

 

Historically, this preeminently meant the name God revealed to His chosen people through Moses. In Exodus 3:13-15, when Moses asks God’s name, God replies “I Am Who Am” from which the more personal name, “Yahweh” comes. 

 

In this God reveals a very deep reality of His identity. This name was so sacred to the Israelites that it was not spoken out loud, and to do so could mean severe punishment. 

 

To call on God by name was in some way to make Him present, or to invoke Him as a witness, and so speaking His name was reserved for privileged times. Instead, the term “Adonai” was used when referring to God — a word typically translated into English as “Lord.” 

 

This might seem a bit extreme to us today — refusing to speak a name because of how sacred it was — but it was an attempt to underscore the importance and holiness of God. Not only was God all holy, so too was His name. 

 

To know someone’s name was to know something about who they were — it was a sign of intimacy and trust as the Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us (2143). 

 

It bespoke a certain relationship. And so God’s revealing His name was an indication of the kind of relationship He wished to have with His people — a relationship which would always be threatened by sin and disobedience. Hence it is no coincidence that God gives the 10 Commandments shortly after revealing His name. 

 

The commandments instructed the Israelites as to the behavior necessary in order to maintain this relationship. Lest through choosing evil they move further and further away from God who is all good. 

 

As we grow in holiness ourselves, the opportunity to grow deeper in relationship with Him also grows. Avoiding sin will always be part of that. 

 

In this context, it will mean avoiding inappropriate references to God and those things or people connected to Him. Loving God will mean coming to love everything about Him, including His name. 

 

As is the case in our other relationships, showing disrespect to someone’s name is ultimately to disrespect whomever that name represents.

 

Sadly, this fact seems largely forgotten. References to God have become not just overly casual, but often callous. Examples abound of His name being used as essentially a form of cursing or in conjunction with other vulgar expressions. It’s such a frequent occurrence that even television censors allow it with great regularity — despite other language that is still censored.  

 

Naturally, as this happens we grow more and more desensitized to the sacredness of God’s name. We no longer see it as important enough to guard or hold dear. We might even fall into the habit of using it inappropriately ourselves. 

 

But, even if we refuse to use God’s name in a vain way ourselves, we may still end up not being bothered (or bothered as much) when others around us do. These days it would take a fair amount of courage to publicly request that someone using God’s name inappropriately stop doing so. 

 

Short of Christians beginning to do this, though, we can expect the abusive use of God’s name to continue. 

 

If we want to fulfill the Second Commandment in this most basic of ways, it will really mean reserving our use of His Holy name, or other references to God, for those times in which we are doing so in order to bless, praise, or glorify it (CCC 2143). 

 

Doing this helps us to preserve the proper disposition towards God — that everything about Him, including His name, is sacred, holy and deserving of our utmost respect.