Blessings: A Biblical, liturgical, and personal way to strengthen your family

I have fond memories as a child of me and my siblings all asking my parents for “hug and kiss and blessing” every night before we went to bed. I can vividly recall the sense of love, joy, and peace that came over me every time my parents touched my head and prayed a simple, one-sentence blessing.

The combination of the physical and spiritual had a profound effect on all of us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that blessings are the first of the sacramentals. They don’t confer grace but they prepare us to receive and cooperate with grace. The Catechism also states that, “Blessing expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer: it is an encounter between God and man” (2626). That’s it! A prayer of blessing is an encounter with God. That’s why their blessing was so powerful! In a very real and personal way, through the cooperation of my earthly parents, I was encountering my heavenly Father—and was prepared to receive and cooperate with his grace.

Blessings are all around us—and always have been. Let’s look at them from a biblical, liturgical, and personal perspective.

Biblical. Some form of the word “bless” occurs hundreds of times in the Bible. When God created man in his image as male and female, he blessed them and said to be fertile and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it. Abraham is blessed by God and told that he (ultimately through Jesus) will be a blessing to all people. Aaron—the priest—blesses the people with the famous, “The Lord bless and keep you” blessing (Num. 6:24-26). Dozens of Psalms and canticles, as well as many of Paul’s letters contain some formulation of “Blessed be God.”

When Elizabeth encounters Mary and baby Jesus in her womb, she is filled with the Holy Spirit and declares, “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1:42). Zachariah and Simeon are both filled with the Holy Spirit and “bless” (praise or give thanks to) God. This attitude of praise and gratitude should also be our response to God’s gift of blessings to us.

Liturgical. Speaking of thanksgiving, “Eucharist” means “thanksgiving” and the Mass is a great example of a Trinitarian liturgical blessing. Consider this dynamic of prayer, thanks, and blessing at the Mass. The priest prays “Blessed are you Lord, God of all creation for through your goodness” we have gifts of bread and wine to offer. We respond—adding the gift of our very lives—“Blessed be God forever.” This dialog continues in the Preface where we affirm that it is “right and just”—even “our duty and our salvation”—to give the Father thanks. All gifts come from the Father and we thank him. The priest continues with the Eucharistic Prayer where he asks the Father to “bless and approve our offerings” and calls on the Spirit to make them holy—which he does at the words of consecration—so that we can have the most personal encounter with Jesus in Holy Communion. The Father gives us the gifts to offer, the Spirit makes them holy and we then consume these life-giving, transubstantiated gifts as the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. Everything—including us—comes from God and returns to God. No wonder the Eucharist is the “source and summit” of the Christian life (CCC 1324)!

Personal perspective. Blessing is closely related to living a life of love, joy, peace and gratitude. Our son, Romeo, is a great example of this. We are very grateful for the blessing he is to me and my wife—even on the difficult days—because the shared sacrifice it takes to raise him well brings our family closer to each other and closer to God. Romeo lights up a room no matter where he goes with his joyful presence and genuine love he shares with others. We recently reconnected with an old friend who had not met Romeo yet and Romeo’s happy greeting and smile set the stage for a wonderful conversation. When it was time to go, he gave my friend a big hug and smile—bringing a deep sense of love, joy, and peace to all of us.

Now, my wife and I bless each other and Romeo every day—just like my parents did—through physical touch and those same prayers of blessing. Romeo welcomes our blessing and then is always waiting with a big hug and a duck-billed kiss for us after we bless him. I pray that continuing my personal family tradition of “hug and kiss and blessing”—along with biblical and liturgical blessings—will help us live joyful, grateful lives, help us facilitate Godly encounters and empower us to be a blessing to all those we meet.