2. How do we profane the name of God?
We profane the name of God, 1. By irreverently pronouncing it; 2. By deriding religion; 3. By blasphemy; 4. By sinful swearing, and by cursing; and 5. By breaking vows.
3. How do we sin by irreverently pronouncing God's holy name?
By pronouncing the name of God in jest, or in anger, or in any other careless manner.
This applies also to other names and words worthy of reverence, as the name of the Blessed Virgin, the Holy Cross, the Holy Sacraments, etc., and to the words of the Holy Scripture, which are never to be abused in jest or by way of derision.
'The Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain' (Exod. xx. 7).
4. How do we sin by deriding religion?
By scoffing at religion, at the rites or ceremonies of the Church, or by turning them into ridicule, in which cases we may also become guilty of blasphemy.
'Knowing this first, that in the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts, . . . you, therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness' (2 Pet. iii. 3, 17).
5. What is meant by blasphemy?
By blasphemy is meant contemptuous and abusive language uttered against God, the Saints, or holy things.
This sin is so great that, in the Old Law, those who were found guilty of it were put to death. 'He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die; all the multitude shall stone him' (Levit. xxiv. 16). How Sennacherib, King of the Assyrians, was punished for blaspheming the Lord, see 4 Kings xix.
6. May we also become guilty of blasphemy by thoughts?
Yes, when we voluntarily think contemptuously of God or of the Saints.
7. What is swearing or taking an oath?
Swearing or taking an oath is to call the All-knowing
