(Please read this Scripture passage first, before the homily.)
We have a reading from the book of Proverbs. Proverbs belongs to a collection of biblical books, called the books of wisdom. Proverbs provides us with many practical sayings about life and relationships. The book spends much time about ordinary things of life. In one sense the book challenges us to see God’s place in the ordinary affairs of our life.
The book offers us only one example of a prayer, today’s reading. In this prayer we ask for what we need, such as the truth in our life and the food we need. We do not ask for more food than we need and do not want less food than we need.
The danger in having too much lies in the temptation to forget about God. The danger in not having enough lies in the temptation to steal and to swear by God’s holiness in denial of the theft.
This passage refers to profaning the name of God. Like the commandment that prohibits using God’s name in vain, this passage is often misunderstood. We do not use God’s name in vain by saying, “God”. Rather, when we put something created in place of God, we use God’s name in vain or make God’s holiness profane.
The Israelites in the desert made a golden calf as their god who brought them out of Egypt. This is a profane use of God’s name. When we make election for public office, advancement at work, or our position among friends the most important thing in our life, we are making a profane use of God’s name. When we put anything in place of having God first in our lives, we are making a profane use of God’s name. When we make lying to get out of trouble and invoking God’s name in support of the lie, we are making a profane use of God’s name.
Using God’s name in a profane way has nothing to do with our language, but has everything to do with our will and intentions: why we do what we do. We keep holy God’s name when we let God’s principles guide our lives.
In a little book of Proverbs, with much ado about the ordinary, we can find a deep statement of our relationship with God. We can discover God as the source of the food we eat and God as the goal of all we do. We are challenged to see this God in our ordinary lives. In this we live the wisdom of Proverbs.