HALLOWED BE THY NAME

HALLOWED BE THY NAME

(August 30)

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be (ἁγιασθήτω) Thy name…” (Mt 6: 9)

The “hallowed be Thy name” part of the Our Father is one of the three “Let it be’s” of this prayer that the Lord taught us to pray. When we say, “hallowed be Thy name” and “Thy kingdom come” and “Thy will be done,” we are not asking God to do anything. He already “hallows” His name, does His will, and has His kingdom “coming” and on offer to all of us, insofar as we want it. In the Lord’s Prayer we are testifying before God that we are open and willing to accept all that; to get out of the way of all that. “Let it be,” we are saying, the hallowing of Your name, the coming of Your kingdom, and the doing of Your will. We’re on board with it.

Can God’s “good name” be obscured or even tarnished by us, who have been baptised (e.g., “immersed”) or consecrated in His name? It can, if we, who are supposed to be dedicated to, and ministering in, His name, are actually self-serving; serving our own “name,” or perhaps serving many “others” (whose name is Legion), then the light and goodness of God’s name does not shine forth from us. We might be listening more to voices in our own heads that are not God’s, which drag us down into mistrusting God and embracing all sorts of fears as a result. God’s name thus becomes obscured in us, or even confused with the darkness and evil of His enemies.

Thank You, Lord, for teaching us to pray like this, helping us to help ourselves open up to the grace and goodness we ourselves might subtly be resisting. Let me not be distracted today, from the unchanging holiness and light of God’s name, regardless of my own fallings-short of it. Lord, today I let no other “names” get in the way of Yours, or to obscure its light in our midst. “Hallowed be Thy name.” Amen!