TRIMESTRE DE 2003, PRESENTADO POR EL PARTIDO LIBERAL MEXICANO

“Hal lowed be thy name.”

[25.] A great prayer of un fath omable depth, if spo ken from the heart, al- though of few words! Among the seven pe ti tions, none is greater than that where we pray: “Hal lowed be thy name.”

[26.] Ob serve that God’s name is holy in it self and is not made holy by us. In deed, it hal lows all things, even us. But, as Saint Cyprian says, it is to be hal lowed in us; thereby God be comes ev ery thing and man be comes noth ing. The hal low ing of God’s name is the de signed pur pose sub served by the other six pe ti tions. When this is done all is well, as we shall hear.

[27.] But, in or der to see how the name of God is hal lowed, we shall first ob serve how it is pro faned and dis hon ored in us. To speak of it clearly and plainly, it is dis hon ored in us in two ways:

First, when we mis use it for sin; sec ondly, when we com mit theft and rob bery in re gard to it; just as a sa cred ves sel of the Church is des e crated in two ways: first, when it is used, not for God’s ser vice, but for car nal pur- poses; sec ondly, when it is taken by theft and rob bery.

[28.] First, then, God’s name is pro faned in us by a mis use of it. This is when we ap ply it not for our souls’ wel fare and bet ter ment, but for de- bauch ing and in jur ing them. We do this in many ways — with witch craft, ly ing, swear ing, curs ing and de ceiv ing.

name is pro faned when we do not live as the chil dren of God.

The Na ture of the Chil dren of God.

[29.] We call that a pi ous child which is born of pi ous, hon est par ents and which fol lows and em u lates them in ev ery re spect. Such a child prop erly pos sesses by in her i tance all the prop erty and ti tles of its par ents. So we Chris tians have been born anew by bap tism and be come the chil dren of God, and, if we im i tate our Fa ther and his na ture, then all his riches and at- tributes are our eter nal in her i tance. Now, our Fa ther is called mer ci ful and kind be cause he pos sesses these at tributes, as Christ says, “Be ye mer ci ful, even as your Fa ther is mer ci ful,” Lk 6:36; again, “Learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart,” Mt 11:29. So, also, God is right eous, pure, true, mighty, sin cere, un chang ing, wise, etc. These are all names of God, com- pre hended in the term “thy name”; for the names of all virtues are names of God. Since we have been bap tized into these names and by them have been con se crated and sanc ti fied, thus ap pro pri at ing them as our own, it fol lows that all of God’s chil dren are called to be kind, mer ci ful, chaste, just, true, sin cere, lov ing, peace able and gen tle to wards ev ery body, even their en e- mies. For God’s name, into which they have been bap tized, pro duces such qual i ties in them; or at least they ought al ways to pray that the name of God may ef fec tively dwell and be sanc ti fied in them.

[30.] But who ever is an gry, quar rel some, jeal ous, bit ter, un kind, un mer- ci ful and un chaste; who ever curses, lies, swears, de ceives and slan ders — who ever does these things dis hon ors, blas phemes and pro fanes the di vine name, in which he was blessed and bap tized, or called and num bered among the Chris tians and gath ered to the peo ple of God. That per son hon- ors, while pro fess edly bear ing the di vine name, the devil’s name; for the devil is a liar, im pure, a back biter, and full of ha tred. They who are of his kin dred and on his side, fol low him, says the wise man (Wis dom 2:24). Ob- serve that such fol low ers of Sa tan are equally blas phe mous with the priest who would let swine drink from the con se crated cup or dip filth with it. Sim i larly do those who take their souls and bod ies, which have been sanc ti- fied by the name of God dwelling in them, and use them in the devil’s ser- vice. All this brings dis honor upon the holy, di vine name with which they have been con se crated.

[31.] Now, you un der stand what hal low ing is, what holy means; it is noth ing but sep a ra tion from mis use for di vine use, as a church is con se- crated and set apart for the sole pur pose of di vine ser vice. So we are to be hal lowed in all our lives, that noth ing may have vogue in us but the name of God— kind ness, truth, right eous ness, etc. Ac cord ingly the name of God is hal lowed or pro faned not only with the lips, but also with ev ery mem ber of the body and soul.

[32.] Sec ondly, God’s name is pro faned by com mit ting theft and rob bery in re gard to it. To a clear thinker, this is com pre hended un der the first head, but the iden tity is too sub tle for plain minds to per ceive. This sec ond head re lates to the proud, who imag ine them selves to be pi ous and holy in them- selves, and do not think that they blas pheme the name of God, like the first class, but give them selves the name of be ing right eous, holy and true, and thereby in so lently steal the name of God with out any fear. Just now this class is very nu mer ous, be ing strongly rep re sented among those es pe cially who ap pear to be pi ous and spir i tual. For these are con ceited. They as cribe their words, works, wis dom and abil ity to do good to them selves. They de- sire to be renowned and hon ored for these things. And if they are not so re- garded they be come fu ri ous and fly into rage. These are called in the Scrip- tures, “pro fundi corde,” with hearts too deep to be fath omed. God alone must judge and un mask them, and greatly do they grieve him. For they know so well how to adorn ev ery thing that they are se cure in the as sur ance that all is supremely well with them. And this their self-com pla cency and in ward boast ing, vaunt ing and self-praise is their great est and most dan ger- ous fault. In or der that they may be rec og nized and that ev ery one may be put on his guard against a sim i lar course we will pur sue this mat ter fur ther.

The Worst and Most Dan ger ous Peo ple in all Chris ten dom.

[33.] First, they con stantly have words of self-praise on their lips and boast- ingly say: Oh, I have such good in ten tions. I mean well from my heart. This one and that one will not heed me. I would gladly share my very heart with him. Be ware, be ware, of these wolves who go about in such sheep’s cloth- ing! They are thorns. No figs grow there; noth ing but spines. As Christ says: “By their fruits ye shall know them,” Mt 7:16. But what are their fruits? Thorns, pricks, scratch ing, tear ing, wounds, but no good words and works. How does this come about? Ob serve: When they have come to the

con clu sion that they are pi ous, have good in ten tions, and dis cover in their lives that they pray, fast and do good works more than other peo ple and have more un der stand ing and grace from God, they are not able to in sti tute a com par i son be tween them selves and those who are bet ter and su pe rior. They com pare them selves with those who ap pear worse and in fe rior. They soon for get that all they have is God’s gift. There fore they can not but di- rectly fall into judg ing, con demn ing, back bit ing, and slan der ing, and into con tempt for oth ers and self-lau da tion at the ex pense of oth ers. They give them selves over to pride and be come hard ened in the ab sence of all fear of God; and even tu ally they be foul their hearts and lips with the sins of oth ers con stantly car ried around with them.

[34.] Be hold the this tles and thorns in fruitage and the jaws of wolves be neath the sheep’s cloth ing! These fig ures of speech ap ply to those who steal the name and honor of God and as cribe it to them selves. God has the right alone to judge. Christ says: “Judge not, that ye be not judged,” Mt 7:1. To be holy, right eous and good is also God’s alone. We all are alike sin ners be fore God, one as well as the other; there is no dif fer ence. If one has any ad vance of an other, it is not his own, and those who are God’s own will let him have the di vine name, will let him take pride in it, will let him glory in it, will let him pass judg ment upon oth ers. Ac cord ingly, he who uses these things, not to serve his neigh bor, but to de spise him, is a thief of God’s honor, and ar ro gates to him self di vin ity and di vine priv i lege, which are not his own.

[35.] The world is now full of these of fen sive, bold, friv o lous, ir rev er ent spir its, who by their good lives pro fane God’s name more blas phe mously than all oth ers with their wicked lives. These I call the proud saints and the devil’s mar tyrs, who are not as the rest of men, like the hyp ocrite in the Gospel, Lk 18:11. These, just as if they were not sin ners and evil, will not tol er ate the wicked and un righ teous and will have no deal ings with them, so that, for sooth, no body can say: Ah, does he as so ciate with such peo ple? I thought he was much too good. They do not rec og nize that God has granted them more grace in or der that thereby they may serve oth ers, and dis trib ute and in vest this grace for in ter est. In other words, they see not that they should pray for, as sist and ad vise oth ers and do for them as they have re- ceived from God, who gave them his grace freely and nei ther de spised nor judged them. But they go on and not only pro duce no fruit with the grace re ceived, but em ploy it to per se cute those whom they should as sist with it.

The Scrip tures call these the per verse: “With the per verse thou wilt show thy self froward,” Ps 18:26.

[36.] Sec ondly, when they hear all this, that to God alone are due praise and honor, they put on a fine ap pear ance and de ceive them selves with even greater pre ten sions. They say that in all they do they are only seek ing the honor of God; and they even pre sume to swear that they are not seek ing their own honor, so com pletely and pro foundly evil of spirit are they.

But ob serve their fruits and works, and you shall find that, if their projects do not suc ceed, there arises such lamen ta tion and peev ish ness that no body can get along with them. Then they cry out that those who hin der them are not do ing right, and this in jury they can not for get. They pre tend that God’s honor has been hin dered and the good which they sought and in- tended has been re sisted. When they can not re frain from their ac cursed judg ing and back bit ing, their real thoughts be come man i fest, and it is seen that they are an gry, not be cause the cause and honor of God are hin dered, but be cause their own opin ions and in ten tions have mis car ried. They pro- ceed as if their opin ions could not be bad and must be so good that God him self could not re ject them. For if they did not as cribe such ex cel lence to them selves, they would eas ily en dure the hin der ing of their pur poses. But over ween ing pride does not per mit its vic tim to con sider him self wicked or fool ish; there fore ev ery body else must be wicked or fool ish. Be hold, how deeply the blas phemy against God is hid den in these spir its, who al ways want to have what is God’s alone, to-wit, wis dom, right eous ness, praise and honor.

[37.] Thirdly, when it is con tended or pro claimed that honor and praise be long to God be cause he cre ates all things and all things are his own, then these self-right eous are wiser than all the preach ers, ay, even than the Holy Spirit him self. They are able to teach ev ery body and will no longer be pupils. They say: Who does not know that? They think they un der stand it all thor oughly. But when it comes to a test, and their honor is touched; when they are slighted or de spised, de prived of any thing, or any thing goes against them; then their learn ing is soon for got ten and the thorn bush brings forth its fruit — spines and prick les. Then the ass with his ears looks out from the lion’s skin. Then they ex claim: O God in heaven, look down and see what a great wrong is done to me. They plunge into the great folly of pre sum ing to say that even God does them in jus tice.

[38.] Where is now that great un der stand ing of yours which prompted you to say: All things are God’s and from God? Poor man! If it is God’s alone, why should he not take it from you un hin dered, give and toss it hither and thither? If it is his, you should stand still and let him do with it as he wills. If he takes what is his own, no wrong is done to you. As Job the saint spoke, when he lost all his riches and chil dren: “Je ho vah gave, and Je- ho vah hath taken away,” as it pleased God, so it hap pened; “blessed be the name of Je ho vah,” Job 1:21, Be hold, he was a true man, from whom no- body could take any thing; for he had noth ing that was his own. God says (Job 41:11): “What so ever is un der the whole heaven is mine.” I cre ated it. Why, then, do you boast of what is yours and of the wrong that is done you? If your honor, rep u ta tion, prop erty, or what ever you have, is as sailed, not your pos ses sion, but Christ’s, is as sailed. And, in or der to teach you this, he brings it about that what you think is your own, is taken from you, so that you may rec og nize that it is not yours, but his. Be hold, so one finds ev ery- where that men do not seek the honor and name of God sin cerely, and es pe- cially the proud saints al ways pro fess to be and to have some thing to which only God can lay claim.

[39.] You say: If this is true, it fol lows that no body on earth prop erly hal- lows the name of God. More over, all they who go to court for the sake of their prop erty, their honor or other ob jects, are in the wrong.

[40.] First, I an swer: For this rea son, I said above that this pe ti tion is most preg nant and the great est, com pre hend ing all oth ers. For if one prop- erly hal lowed the name of God he would not need to pray the Lord’s Prayer any more. And if one were so pure as to be un con cerned about any thing, even his honor, he would be per fectly holy and the name of God would be per fectly hal lowed in him. How ever, such a con di tion is found not in this life, but in heaven.

[41.] There fore, as long as we live, we need to pray and earnestly strive that God may hal low his name in us. For ev ery man is found to be a blas-