Day 37 – Hallowing

 

Pray then in this way: ‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name’.

(Matthew 6: 9)

 In its deepest sense, to hallow is to honour and love another for their own sake. Hallowing is gratuitous – an honouring offered freely, without condition, charge, measure or any thought of self-interest or personal gain. The 12^th century saint, Bernard of Clairvaux, taught that there are four movements in the life of faith. We begin by loving ourselves for our own sake. Then, when faith awakens, we love God but still for our own sake, as one who blesses and meets our needs. Thirdly, we must come to the love of God for God’s own sake – as a gift, for nothing, for the hallowing of the divine name alone. Finally, in the loving of God for God’s own sake, we come to love ourselves truly for God’s sake. There is no contradiction here. God is the life of heaven and earth: it is all sustained in the love that is God’s own being. When his name is truly hallowed, all things find their true place, hallowed in their name and calling.

(Extract from Dust & Glory by David Runcorn)

 For Reflection

Do I love for nothing?

 Remember in Prayer

Those who struggle to love themselves.