The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) - Day 278: The Second Commandment (2025)

Episode Date: October 5, 2025

We begin our examination of the second commandment, to not take the Lord’s name in vain. Fr. Mike emphasizes that God has revealed his sacred name to us, and it is our duty to treat that name with reverence. He also emphasizes just how easy it is for us to take the Lord’s name in vain in our day and age, and how vitally important it is for us to treat his holy name with respect. Today’s readings are Catechism paragraphs 2142-2149. This episode has been found to be in conformity with the Catechism by the Institute on the Catechism, under the Subcommittee on the Catechism, USCCB. For the complete reading plan, visit ascensionpress.com/ciy Please note: The Catechism of the Catholic Church contains adult themes that may not be suitable for children - parental discretion is advised.

Hi, my name's Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to The Catechism in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's plan of sheer goodness for us, revealed in scripture, and passed down through the tradition of the Catholic faith. The Catechism in years brought to you by Ascension. In 365 days, we'll read through the Catechism of the Catholic Church, discovering our identity and God's family as we journey together toward our heavenly home. This is Day 278. We're reading paragraphs 2142 to 2149. As always, I'm using the Ascension edition of the Catechism, which includes the foundations of faith approach, but you can follow along with any recent version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

You can also download your own catechism in a year reading plan by visiting ascensionpress.combe. And you can click follow or subscribe in your podcast app for daily updates. Daily notifications today is 278. We're reading about the Second Commandment. We only have a couple days with the Second Commandment. That sounds like the radio host. We only have a couple days with the Second Commandment, but it's true. The Second Commandment, you shall not.

take the name of the Lord your God in vain. And also, you shall not swear falsely. But I say to you, do not swear at all. Are the two bases, if that's the right word, baseses? There are two foundations of this commandment. The name of the Lord is holy. That's what we're starting with today. And it's really incredible because, man, in our day and in our age, the name of the Lord

is a curse word. The name of our Lord is taken in virtually every context. I mean, from the worst kind of way you can abuse the Lord's language to even, you know, popular TV shows that are for mainstream audiences or movies that are for mainstream audiences, even movies that might be indicated as like PG or just basically prime time. The name of the Lord is so often blasphemed. We're also going to talk tomorrow a little bit more about false oaths. We'll also talk about the Christian name later on. And recognizing here that in revealing his name to us, God has entrusted himself to us in this profound and deeply, deeply personal way.

And so we have to, we have to have this spirit of fear when it comes to the Lord's name. Fear and awe, awe and trembling when it comes to the Lord's name, there's going to be this incredible, I think it's one of my favorite quotes from John Henry Cardinal Newman. It's in paragraph 2144. It's one of my favorite quotes from him and talking about specifically fear, the fear of the Lord and the name of the Lord. And so as we launch into this, we call upon the name of the Lord and ask the Lord to guard us, to guard our hearts as well as our words so that we always, always speak the name of the Lord the way he deserves and never to misuse and never definitely to abuse his name. We pray.

Father in heaven, we give you praise and we give you glory. We thank you. We thank you for bringing us to this moment. And we thank you for revealing your name to us. We thank you for revealing your heart to us that in disclosing your name to us, Lord God, you have entrusted your heart to us. You've entrusted yourself to us. Help us to never, never ignore, be indifferent towards misuse or abuse your name. Lord God, please protect us from this sin and please help us to make reparation for any sins against your name. In Jesus' name, we pray in the name of the Father and of the Son and and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. We're reading paragraphs 2142 to 2.49. Article 2. The Second Commandment

You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. You have heard that it was said to the men of old, you shall not swear falsely. But I say to you, do not swear at all. The name of the Lord is holy. The Second Commandment prescribes respect for the Lord's name. Like the First Commandment, it belongs to the virtue of religion, and more particularly, it governs our use of speech in sacred matters. Among all the words of Revelation, there is one which is unique, the revealed name of God. God confides his name to those who believe in him. He reveals himself to them in his personal mystery.

The gift of a name belongs to the order of trust and intimacy. The Lord's name is holy. For this reason, man must not abuse it. He must keep it in mind in silent, loving adoration. He will not introduce it into his own name. speech except to bless, praise, and glorify it. Respect for his name is an expression of the respect owed to the mystery of God himself and to the whole sacred reality it evokes.

The sense of the sacred is part of the virtue of religion. As John Henry Cardle Newman stated, Are these feelings of fear and awe Christian feelings or not? I say this then, which I think no one can reasonably dispute. They are the class of feelings we should have. Yes, have to an intense degree if we literally had the sight of all mighty God. Therefore, they are the class of feelings which we shall have if we realize his presence. In proportion as we believe that he is present, we shall have them. And not to have them is not to

realize, not to believe that he is present. The faithful should bear witness to the Lord's name by confessing the faith without giving way to fear. Preaching and catechizing should be permeated with adoration and respect for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Second Commandment forbids the abuse of God's name. That is, every improper use of the names of God, Jesus Christ, but also of the Virgin Mary and all the saints. Promises made to others in God's name engage the divine honor, fidelity, truthfulness, and authority. They must be respected in justice. To be unfaithful to them is to misuse God's name and in some way to make God out to be a liar. Blasphemy is directly opposed to the Second Commandment. It consists in

uttering against God inwardly or outwardly words of hatred, reproach, or defiance, in speaking ill of God, in failing and respect toward him in one's speech, in misusing God's name. St. James condemns those who blaspheme that honorable name of Jesus by which you are called. The prohibition of blasphemy extends to language against Christ's Church, the saints, and sacred things. It is also blasphemous to make use of God's name to cover up criminal practices, to reduce peoples to servitude, to torture persons, or put them to death. The misuse of God's name to commit a crime can provoke others to repudiate religion. Blasphemy is contrary to the respect due to God and his holy name. It is in itself a grave sin. Oathes, which misuse God's name, though without the intention

of blasphemy, show lack of respect for the Lord. The Second Commandment also forbids magical use of the divine name. St. Augustine stated, God's name is great when spoken with respect for the greatness of his majesty. God's name is holy when said with veneration and fear of offending him. All right. There we have it. Paragraphs 2142 to 2149. Gosh, you guys, this is just incredible, right? So, and the reason why this is incredible, the reason why this is so necessary, this second commandment is because if there's any, well, I mean, so many sins have been mainstreamed, right? So many sins have become respectable sins. So many sins have become these grave sins. I mean, grave sins, heavy weight to them.

I become commonplace. And this is one of them, this offense against the Second Commandment, where here is God who's entrusted. Remember we talked about this before? But in ancient peoples, they had an idea of the name. In fact, my friend Nick, he's a missionary in Cambodia. He made a little video about this relative to the recently. He said that in Cambodia, they, in their culture, still, you might live next to someone

for decades and not know their first name. To share your name with someone is to give them a certain kind of power over you. In fact, there are certain cultures where they do practice. practice things like voodoo and the through practice the occult where if someone reveals their name to you that is again you're vulnerable to them it's one of the reasons why during exorcisms the exorcist at some point asks the demons or commands the demons in jesus name to reveal their name because when they reveal their name because they have to because of the name of jesus they in a certain sense become vulnerable in a new way if i'm getting that exactly right

but that's what exorcists do. They ask for the name of that demon because we recognize that to share one's name is in some way to share oneself. It's to make yourself vulnerable. And what does God do? In the course of Revelation, God reveals his sacred name. And he's revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus is remarkable.

The name of Jesus is his presence. When we utter the name of Jesus, he is present. the name of Jesus is his presence, and his presence is his power. And so we recognize that, wait a second, if I actually had respect, if I actually had the fear of the Lord, I would never, ever utter the sacred name of Jesus carelessly. And yet what happens all the time? We say things like, oh my God, or we say, take the name of Jesus Christ, or just, you know, whether that be stuck in traffic, or that we were surprised, or we hit our thumb with a hammer,

or whatever the thing is, to do that is direct sin against the Second Commandment. I love this quote, as I said, from John Henry Cardinal Newman. When talking about the fear of the Lord, he says, are these feelings of fear and awe? Are they Christian feelings or not? It's like to experience fear and awe, is that a Christian reality? He has had a Christian response. He says, I say this then which I think no one can reasonably dispute. They are the class of feelings we should have, fear and awe.

Those are the class of feelings we should have and have to an intense degree if we literally had the sight of Almighty God. If you and I found ourselves in front before the Lord God himself. I mean, think about all of the times in Scripture when God reveals himself to someone and they fall down as though dead. Here's the book of Revelation. Here's John, right? John the beloved. John who was one of Jesus' best friends. He lived with Jesus for three years. He took care of Mary for the remainder of her life on earth. Here is John. And then he served Jesus for like the remaining 60 years or more of his life. And then at one point in the book of Revelation, John turns around and he sees Jesus in his glory.

He sees Jesus, kind of like transfigured. Again, this is the same John who saw Jesus transfigured when he was a kid, when he was younger. And yet, when John sees Jesus in the book of Revelation, he says, I fell down as though dead. Because this is the reality of God, that even if we're close, we have intimacy, a friendship with Jesus, to come face to face with God himself is, it's overwhelming. No one can see the face of God and live. If we literally had sight of Almighty God, we would have fear and awe. Therefore, he says, John Henry, Colonel Newman, says, therefore, they are the class of feelings we shall have if we realize his presence.

This is important. This last sentence he makes is just, it's piercing, it's convicting. He says, in proportion as we believe that he is present, we shall have them. Meaning, if I believe to a small degree that God is present, then, yeah, I'll have a small degree of fear and awe. If I believe, I mean, look, think about adoration or think about the kind of. context of the mass where here is Jesus fully substantially truly present body blood soul divinity and I just kind of nonchalantly approach him like that that maybe reveals that I only believe that he's present to a certain degree so to not have those feelings of fear and awe is not to realize

or not to believe that he is present maybe I just didn't know maybe I was ignorant of this whole thing this whole time so it's not to realize that he's present or not to believe that he is present the same thing is true when it comes to the sacred name of Jesus, sacred name of God. You know, I remember hearing something. Maybe I shared this here. I'm not sure if I did in this podcast, but a friend of mine at one point, she had gone to a Bible college. And one of her instructors at this Bible college, she wasn't Catholic, but one of her instructors at the Bible college had shared this unique insight. He said that it's remarkable that Christianity is the only religion that he knew of, the only religion that he knew of. where the adherents, right, the believers, would actually use the name of their God as a curse word. They would actually nonchalantly use the name of the Lord their God. And this is, I mean, think about, we have this happen all the time. I remember the first time I heard a priest say, oh, my God.

I remember thinking, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, this is a big deal. I'm so grateful, I'm so grateful to a teacher named Mrs. Anderson. And Mrs. Anderson at one point, this is just, it was a convicting moment of me. Maybe I was in maybe fourth or fifth grade. And I was getting in line and someone got in front of me and I said, OMG, right? I said, oh, my God. And Mrs. Anderson said, Mike, no, don't say that. Get back to the back of the line.

And I said it again. I said, oh, my God again. And she said, you're going to the principal's office for saying, oh, my God. And I got sent down to Sister Barbara Ann's office. She was the principal at the time at St. Francis School in Brainer, Minnesota. And Sister Barbara Ann treated this seriously. She said, why are you here? And I said, well, because I was in line.

And I said, oh, my God, twice. And she just took it seriously and said, okay. So think of another word, you know, fiddle sticks or something like along those lines when you're upset, but don't take the name of the Lord your God in vain. And I am so grateful. I'm so grateful for Mrs. Anderson. So grateful for Sister Barbara Ann, whatever reason, it was a graced moment for me. For whatever reason, that was a pivot moment where it was like, wait a second, these adults

are taking this seriously. They're taking my flippant comment, my being glib with the name of the Lord. they're taking that seriously and again it's a grace moment because I could have just lived through that and forgotten about it but it stuck with me. I'm so, so grateful to that teacher, so grateful to that sister, that principal because it says here in paragraph 2146, the second commandment forbids the abuse of God's name. That is every improper use of the names of God, Jesus Christ, but also the Virgin Mary and all the saints. I think it that it forbids every improper use of the names of God, Jesus Christ, but also the virgin mary and all the saints now there's another thing that goes beyond this paragraph 2145 the paragraph

immediately preceding 2146 because that's how numbers work it says the faithful should bear witness to the lord's name by confessing the faith without giving way to fear that is also bearing witness to the lord's name by confessing the faith without giving way to fear remember one of the five effects of confirmation is that given you're given a special strength to spread and defend the faith by word and deed to never be ashamed at the cross and to proclaim the name of Jesus Christ boldly, we should bear witness to the name of the Lord by confessing the faith without giving way to fear. Preaching and catechizing should be permeated with adoration and respect for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, every person who teaches.

You know, that's one of the many dangers of teaching in the church or preaching in the church is we become so accustomed to holy things that we can start treating holy things as if they're just simply normal things, as is their common objects. And the same is true with the name of the Lord. The name of the Lord that is so holy that we can treat as a common name. Moving on, promises made to others in God's name that engage to the divine name, fidelity, truthfulness, and authority have to be respected injustice. So to be unfaithful to them is to misuse God's name and in some way to make God out to be a liar. And blasphemy, again, directly opposed to the Second Commandment, it consists in uttering against God inwardly or outwardly. When it says inwardly, it means the willed choice.

It doesn't just mean if a thought passes through your mind. That doesn't mean that that is a willed choice, right? So blasphemy has to be something that is intentionally chosen, whether inwardly or outwardly, words of hatred, reproach or defiance, and speaking ill of God, feeling to respect him in one speech, misusing God's name. And that is so very important. Now, at the same time, our prayer must be honest. And so maybe you're in a moment where you are struggling a lot. And maybe you're in a moment where you're going through something really difficult. Maybe you're in your Job season, right?

What does Job do? Job has these words of lament. In fact, in some ways, Job's words are a reproach against God. He is speaking words of defiance in some ways. But really what's happening is he's calling out to God for help. But he's being honest about it. And this is the tightrope we have to walk. There is the being honest with the Lord about what we're going through.

There's that questioning, God, and saying, this is what I'm going through. And please help me. And it seems like it makes no sense. And all this, as opposed to words of defiance, as opposed to words of reproach, as opposed to words of hatred or speaking ill of God. We have to speak honestly of God and honestly to God,

but always have to make sure that speech is, and that prayer is on the side. of honesty, the honesty of a son to his beloved father, even if I don't understand, even if I'm in a moment, my job season, even if I'm in the midst of suffering, to cry out honestly and ask the questions. But keeping that in mind that the heart of this whole thing, it's not going to be words of hatred, it's not going to be words of defiance in the strictest sense, even though they are the honest expression of what I'm going through. Does that make sense? It's just so important because we need to balance this out.

We need to make sure our prayer is always going to be honest. Here, God, here is what's in my heart. I'm giving it to you at the same time. Whenever we approach the Lord, we are approaching a God that we know at deep down. We know he's good, even if we're going through the trial of our life, if that makes any sense. Hopefully it makes sense. Lastly, we recognize that oaths which misuse God's name, though without the intention of

blasphemy, show a lack of respect for the Lord. And so just keeping that in mind that maybe there's an oath. that a person takes, but you don't intend to misuse the name of the Lord. That is still to be guarded against. So whenever it comes to God, things of God, whenever it comes to holy things, including his holy name, we have to have the utmost care. At the beginning, middle, and end of the day, that is our takeaway when it comes to this Second Commandment. We just always have to approach sacred things, holy things as they are sacred and holy. And we always yourself to approach the Lord's name as we approach he himself. Does that make sense? Tomorrow we're

going to talk about taking the name of the Lord in vain. So even more about oaths, even more against false oaths, easy for me to say, perjury and some of those other pieces, as well as talking tomorrow about the next step of what are some other ways I might be tempted to take the name of the Lord in vain. What is that to take the name of the Lord in vain? That's what we're looking at tomorrow. Until then, I want you to know something. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name is Father Mike.

I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.