BLESS YOU! What does this mean?

What a blessing!

Father David Jones

Catholic Practices

What are you doing, what are we doing when we bless someone or something? We are preparing someone or something to be used by God for Christ’s sake.

To say “God bless you” one has to believe in God and hope that the recipient of the blessing is willing to surrender all to the Lord. The blessing is a faith filled and hopeful statement, wish, desire that God is going to be involved, in fact, leading a follower of Christ in action.

“May God bless you in a difficult or challenging moment” is a hope that God will see you through the challenge. “May God bless you on your birthday” is a wish that God will protect your life and being. May God bless this food” is a prayer that hopes the food feeds the soul as well as the stomach.

A blessing connects what we are doing or what is happening with what God is doing. The blessing recognizes that God who sits high and looks low is always able to make the difference. The blessing calls for DIVINE INTERVENTION.

Blessing a sick person is not just hoping the person gets well; it is hoping the God is with the person. It is hoping that a vow has been made and the person is able to see what the end shall be! The blessing believes that everything is going to be all right, by God!

Liturgically, blessings are formal, performed by ordained ministers and used to reserve or make a person or an object a sign of God’s action on behalf of His people. A blessed table, aka an altar, is only used for the Lord’s Supper. A blessed pulpit, aka an ambo, is used for the proclamation of God’s Word. Blessed water, aka holy water, makes the water and then the recipient cleansed for use by God, baptized!

People living in poverty tell us that the blessing is not being rich; people in hospitals tell us that the blessing is not being healthy. The blessing is BEING REMEMBERED and BEING ABLED to be made WORTHY to be used by God.

Only a church member can see a poor and sick person as a blessing.