John Predmore, S.J., is a USA East Province Jesuit and was the pastor of Jordan's English language parish. He teaches art and directs BC High's adult spiritual formation programs. Formerly a retreat director in Gloucester, Massachusetts. Ignatian Spirituality is given through guided meditations, weekend-, 8-day, and 30-day Retreats based on The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatian Spirituality serves the contemporary world as people strive to develop a friendship with God.
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Saturday, January 5, 2013
Prayer: "To Bless" by Macrina Wiederkehr
To bless is to put a bit of yourself into something. It is to make holy, to change something or someone because of your presence.
Lovely definition. One of the tendencies of Catholics, I think, is to feel that blessing things is not in their job description. It is the purview of priests and other "officials." I was shocked and dismayed a few weeks ago when I gave some Christmas gifts including a little icon and a handmade rosary to a family at Sacred Heart/St. Dominic church, and the man asked me to bless the icon and rosary! I mumbled something about asking the priest to bless them, but he insisted, saying he believed in "the priesthood of all believers" (I think he is a convert...) and to avoid a scene and a debate, I did as requested and made up what I hope was a decent prayer for God to sanctify the use of the objects for his glory and the users' benefit, but I felt sooooo uncomfortable. Sadly, a curse comes more readily to my lips (believe me, I cursed plenty while making that rosary each time I pinched my fingers with the needle-nose pliers trying to shut the loops between the beads!) than a blessing. I always thought the Jews had the right idea, with their lists of blessings to be said over every delightful gift that God puts in their path---the first blossoming tree they see in the springtime, a sweet fruit they never tried before, an exceptionally pretty woman or handsome man they see, etc. And their custom of blessing each of their children on the Sabbath with a special blessing composed just for that child surely goes a long way toward making those children feel understood and treasured.
Interestingly, the Jewish "blessings" are directed toward God rather than toward the object. We retain a bit of that in our Offertory prayers which are almost exact translations of the beginning of the Jewish prayers over bread and wine, which start "Baruch Atah Adonai, Melekh ha-Olam" "Blessed are you Lord God, King of the Universe" for giving those things to us. Our "grace before meals" asks God to bless the food and the diners; the Jewish one sees the food as a blessing granted by Him for which they are grateful.
If we truly feel that God has shared this power with us, to let us also "bless" things and change them for the better because we have interacted with them, we should use it more often!
I often try to get others to bless because it is within their authority to do so. The man at SH-SD gave you a great gift. In many of our prayers, we bless God and we ask God to bless us. The Psalms are great teachers of how to bless and speak with God. We sanctify the world when we bless others, places, and things. Many of our Catholic/Christian prayers are directed toward God just as the Jewish blessings are. It is often not realized as such because we want objects blessed.
The Filipino community has this custom of walking out the door, grabbing the hand of the priest, bringing it to their forehead, and saying "Father, bless me." Now, this follows my final blessing, "May Almighty God bless you: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." However, they feel it is a personal blessing to be touched by a holy man of God. In some ways it is nice; in some ways it is outdated and like a superstitious devotion. It means a lot to them. Have to give them credit for that, but it is certainly a cultural devotion.
You raise a good point about blessing though. It is good for us to reflect upon what we are doing more often.
Lovely definition. One of the tendencies of Catholics, I think, is to feel that blessing things is not in their job description. It is the purview of priests and other "officials." I was shocked and dismayed a few weeks ago when I gave some Christmas gifts including a little icon and a handmade rosary to a family at Sacred Heart/St. Dominic church, and the man asked me to bless the icon and rosary! I mumbled something about asking the priest to bless them, but he insisted, saying he believed in "the priesthood of all believers" (I think he is a convert...) and to avoid a scene and a debate, I did as requested and made up what I hope was a decent prayer for God to sanctify the use of the objects for his glory and the users' benefit, but I felt sooooo uncomfortable. Sadly, a curse comes more readily to my lips (believe me, I cursed plenty while making that rosary each time I pinched my fingers with the needle-nose pliers trying to shut the loops between the beads!) than a blessing. I always thought the Jews had the right idea, with their lists of blessings to be said over every delightful gift that God puts in their path---the first blossoming tree they see in the springtime, a sweet fruit they never tried before, an exceptionally pretty woman or handsome man they see, etc. And their custom of blessing each of their children on the Sabbath with a special blessing composed just for that child surely goes a long way toward making those children feel understood and treasured.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the Jewish "blessings" are directed toward God rather than toward the object. We retain a bit of that in our Offertory prayers which are almost exact translations of the beginning of the Jewish prayers over bread and wine, which start "Baruch Atah Adonai, Melekh ha-Olam" "Blessed are you Lord God, King of the Universe" for giving those things to us. Our "grace before meals" asks God to bless the food and the diners; the Jewish one sees the food as a blessing granted by Him for which they are grateful.
If we truly feel that God has shared this power with us, to let us also "bless" things and change them for the better because we have interacted with them, we should use it more often!
I often try to get others to bless because it is within their authority to do so. The man at SH-SD gave you a great gift. In many of our prayers, we bless God and we ask God to bless us. The Psalms are great teachers of how to bless and speak with God. We sanctify the world when we bless others, places, and things. Many of our Catholic/Christian prayers are directed toward God just as the Jewish blessings are. It is often not realized as such because we want objects blessed.
DeleteThe Filipino community has this custom of walking out the door, grabbing the hand of the priest, bringing it to their forehead, and saying "Father, bless me." Now, this follows my final blessing, "May Almighty God bless you: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit." However, they feel it is a personal blessing to be touched by a holy man of God. In some ways it is nice; in some ways it is outdated and like a superstitious devotion. It means a lot to them. Have to give them credit for that, but it is certainly a cultural devotion.
You raise a good point about blessing though. It is good for us to reflect upon what we are doing more often.