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October
3, 2005 
VOL.
43, NO. 17Oakland,
CA
COMMENTARY
•Pondering in prayer the many names for God
•It is time for the U.S. to end capital punishment – now
Pondering in prayer the many names for God
While thumbing my way through a Catholic prayer book
one day, I stumbled onto “The 99 Names of God,” a Muslim prayer
in which one works their way through a litany of 99 titles or names for
God.
In this devotion, people of Islam call God the Merciful One, the Artful
One, and the Compassionate One. The divine being is Source of Peace, Sage,
King, Observer, Protector, and Nourisher.
Some names seem to contradict each other: God is “The One Who Abases”
and “The One Who Lifts Up,” which reminds me how God humbles
the proud and exalts the lowly.
God is Light, the Eternal One, the Guide, the Patient One, and the Sweet
One. These names—along with the other 83—touch my heart, reminding
me that God’s positive qualities are of infinite number.
I was surprised that the book didn’t mention the name “Allah,”
the supreme name for God in Islam. Come to find out, there was a simple
explanation. “Allah” is the Arabic word for “God,”
a word without gender connotations because God is beyond gender, and a
word without plural form because there is but one God. Where the name
“Allah” would appear, the editors merely translated the word
as “God.”
Catholics, too, have many names and images for the Supreme Being. We call
God Yahweh, Lord God, the Almighty, and Father.
Jesus is known as the Son of the Living God, Savior, Prince of Peace,
Lord, Rabbi or Teacher, Lamb of God, and “he who comes in the name
of the Lord.” He is the Christ, Son of God, Son of Man, Wonder-Counselor,
the Bridegroom, and Logos or Eternal Word.
The Holy Spirit is referred to as the Spirit of God, the Advocate, the
Spirit of Love, and “the Lord, the giver of life.”
Catholic litanies of years gone by overflow with names for God. Some originate
in Scripture, but others have evolved over the course of history.
In the “Litany of the Blessed Sacrament,” the presence of
Christ in the Eucharist is called Living Bread, Lamb without Spot, Most
Pure Feast, and Corn of the Elect—just to name a few. (I’d
like to know the origin on “Corn of the Elect”—sounds
very Western Hemisphere to me.)
A litany honoring the Holy Spirit describes the Spirit as Source of Living
Water, Consuming Fire, Burning Love, Spirit of Wisdom, Spirit of Compunction,
Spirit of Patience, the Comforter, and Sanctifier.
Christians also call God “Trinity,” a word you won’t
find in your bible, although there is plenty in Scripture about the inter-relatedness
of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The word came about in the early centuries of
Christianity, as followers of Jesus tried to explain in words the mind-boggling
oneness-yet-threeness of God.
“Trinity” comes from “tri” for three (think triad,
tricycle, tripod) and “unity” for one. “Holy Trinity”
is shorthand for this indescribable mystery of God who exists as three
distinct divine persons who are simultaneously one in substance or being.
When it comes to private prayer time, it is only natural to use a favorite
name or image for God. You might think of God as the Good Shepherd who
listens lovingly to your concerns. Perhaps you like to pray to God as
the Great Spirit. Maybe you like to think of Christ as the Light who comes
into the world.
It is important, however, to occasionally ponder other names of God, lest
we become too narrow in our thinking about God.
In fact, as we mature in our spiritual life,
sometimes a treasured image of God no longer comforts us as it did when
we were younger. This may be an invitation from God to deepen our faith
and understanding of divine things. God refuses to be “put in a
box.” Our God is an awesome mystery, intimately present to us through
grace, and yet also utterly beyond our grasp.
Reflection questions:
What titles or names for God do you usually use when you pray? Why do
these names have meaning for you?
Are there other names for God you would like to use when you pray? Why
or why not?
(Julie McCarty, M.A.T., is a freelance writer from Eagan, Minnesota
whose syndicated column on prayer appears in diocesan newspapers around
the country. Contact her at soulwriting@yahoo.com.)
It is time for the U.S. to end capital punishment – now
Writing about forgiveness can be easy. Encouraging other
people to forgive can be easy. But when it comes our own turn to forgive
– forgiving another person who has wounded us, stolen from us, humiliated
us, destroyed some precious part of our life that we lose forever –
forgiveness is never easy.
The “sanctity of the human person” is a powerful and true
idea built on powerful and true words. But ultimately, words are cheap.
Actions matter. The moment to act is now. It’s time to end capital
punishment – now.
On the surface, the case for capital punishment can seem persuasive. Most
people live honestly, act decently and want communities governed by justice
– for both the innocent and the guilty.
Killing the guilty is the wrong choice for a civilized nation. Why? It
accomplishes nothing. It does not bring back or even honor the dead. It
does not ennoble the living. And while it may satisfy society’s
anger for awhile, it cannot even release the murder victim’s loved
ones from their sorrow. Only forgiveness can do that.
Jesus showed again and again by his words and in his actions, the only
true road to justice passes through mercy. Justice cannot be served by
more violence. God’s ways are not our ways; they are wiser and better.
God’s heart, unlike ours, is driven by love, not anger.
Catholic teaching on the death penalty is best understood by viewing it
through two lenses: what it is, and what it is not. The Church’s
critique of capital punishment is not an evasion of justice. Victims and
their survivors have a right to redress, and the state has a right to
enforce that redress and impose grave punishment for grave crimes.
The death penalty is not intrinsically evil. Both Scripture and long Christian
tradition acknowledge the legitimacy of capital punishment under certain
circumstances.
It is not an idolatry of individual rights – in this case, the rights
of the murderer. The right to life of the convicted murderer must be balanced
against society’s right to justice and security.
Finally, it is not a false equation of related but distinct issues. Catholic
teaching on euthanasia, the death penalty, war, genocide and abortion
are rooted in the same concern for the sanctity of the human person. These
are different issues that do not all have the same gravity or moral content.
What Catholic teaching on the death penalty does involve is this: a call
to set aside unnecessary violence, including violence by the state, in
the name of human dignity and the building of a culture of life.
In modern industrialized states, killing convicted murderers adds nothing
to anyone’s safety. It is an excess. It cannot be justified except
in the most extraordinary conditions. Moreover, for John Paul II, the
punishment of any crime should not only seek to redress wrong and protect
society. It should also encourage the possibility of repentance, restitution
and rehabilitation on the part of the criminal. Execution removes that
hope.
In January 2003, the outgoing governor of Illinois took the extraordinary
step of pardoning four death row inmates outright and commuting all of
the remaining 167 inmates to terms of life imprisonment or less. He explained
his actions by saying: “My goal was to stop innocent people [from]
being murdered by the state. We almost executed 12 [or] 13 innocent people.
We had a system that didn’t work.” In exercising his power
of clemency, he acted well within his rights of office – but even
more importantly, he did the right thing.
As citizens, our choices and our actions matter because they create the
kind of future our families and our nation will inhabit. What we choose,
what we do, becomes who we are. Choosing against the death penalty is
choosing in favor of life. We need to end the death penalty now.
