Dear Friends,
The
deacon had just finished his homily when, into the silence… he sneezed. The
response came back, as one voice, from
the whole congregation: “God bless you!”
We typically say that when someone sneezes. The mother held up her child
over the font as they entered church. “Bless yourself,”
Mama said. The operative word in both of these scenarios is bless.
People
from Genesis onward through religious history have blessed themselves and one
another. Noah blessed God for safety through the flood. We read the story of
how Jacob stole his father Isaac’s blessing from his brother Esau in Genesis
27. The psalms have us bless God, too, as in Psalm 33.1: “I will bless the
Lord at all times…” At the Last Supper, Jesus took the bread, blessed, broke it
and , gave it to his disciples (Mark
14.22). In 1 Corinthians 10.16 Paul admonishes his readers to treasure the Eucharist. ”The cup of
blessing that we bless, is it not participation in the blood of Christ?” Our
history, as a believing people, is a lifetime of blessing given and received.
At
least, it should be. The liturgical blessings at Mass and other ritual
occasions are rightly the prerogative of the ordained – the priest or deacon. In many of our parishes, we raise our hands to
participate in these official blessings.
John
O’Donohue, whose name give him away as Irish, draws on his cultural heritage to
remind us that you and I are to give as well as receive blessings. We can bless
our children aloud with some encouraging words as well as a sign of the cross
before they go to sleep or leave for school. Spouses can bless each other when
decisions need to be made or the future is uncertain, or sometimes, ”just
because.”
Lord,
we can say, bless these ingredients that
will go into my family’s meal. May what we share at the table bring us closer
to you and one another. Lord, bless me as I put on these new clothes. May I
wear them with thankfulness. Lord, bless
the person being cared for in the ambulance going by. Lord, bless the EMTs.
“A
blessing,” says John O’Donohue “is a circle of light
drawn around a person to protect, heal and strengthen… The beauty of a blessing
is its belief that it can effect what unfolds… A blessing is different from a
greeting, a hug, a salute, or an affirmation; it opens a different door in
human encounter…When you invoke a blessing, you are creating a ‘sheltering wall’
of rest and peace around a person.” (John
O’Donohue, To Bless the Space
Between Us, pp198-203)
So don’t be bashful, as though
others may laugh or think you strange, when you sign off by saying “Blessings!”
Do not relinquish your baptismal right to bless. Choose to be a “blesser” in life, if you not already. Use your own words, or someone else’s:
May neighbors respect you
Trouble neglect you.
The angels protect you..
And heaven accept you. Amen.
Do come to our
motherhouse for these events!
Wed. Oct. 22nd,
7 to 8.30 pm
Lisa Scata “So Your Children Don’t Want to Come to Mass
with You?
And / or
3 consecutive Mondays
beginning Oct 27
‘Freshen Your Thinking About Catholic Essentials”
I’ll be guiding that
discussion. No test afterwards!
