John Peter Cameron - Blessing Prayers: Devotions for Growing in Faith

A Word on Blessings

Father Peter John Cameron, o.p.

T O UTTER A BLESSING is to acknowledge how much we have been blessed by God, even with every spiritual blessing in the heavens" (Eph 1: 3). In the ancient Jewish tradition, every act and every pleasure called for a recognition of God's primary role as the Author of our needs and our wants. According to the Talmud, it is forbidden to enjoy anything of this world without saying a blessing. For this reason, the Jewish people composed blessings (berakoth) for every imaginable occasion: upon seeing lightning, upon seeing the ocean, upon seeing a rainbow, upon hearing good news, upon hearing bad news, during illness or recovery, when tired or dispirited, upon wearing a new garment, before a journey, when granted an escape from danger, etc.

No wonder, then, that the Catechism of the Catholic Church understands blessing as a divine and life-giving action that, when applied to human beings, means adoration and surrender to [the] Creator in thanksgiving (1078).

Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts... Every baptized person is called to be a blessing, and to bless... Blessing expresses the basic movement of Christian prayer: it is an encounter between God and man. In blessing, God's gift and man's acceptance of it are united in dialogue with each other. The prayer of blessing is man's response to God's gifts: because God blesses, the human heart can in return bless the One who is the source of every blessing. (CCC 1671, 1669, 2626)

Blessings lead us to recognize the wholly loving creative initiative of God behind the precise action we are about to undertake and, by this very fact, to consecrate it to him (Louis Bouyer). Because we trust in how much God loves us, we want him to be part of every dimension of our lives, even the most difficult and burdensome. In this spirit Christ commands us to bless those who curse you (Lk 6: 28). We invoke a blessing before whatever faces us in order to hand ourselves over totally to the Lord in love. And we do so with great confidence and certainty for, as Saint Ambrose instructs us, the power of the blessing prevails over that of nature, because by the blessing nature itself is changed."

For all these reasons, when the Blessed Virgin Mary made her Visitation to her kinswoman Elizabeth, Elizabeth was moved to cry out, Blessed are you among women (Lk 1: 42). Her holy example verifies for us how much blessing is at the very heart of the Magnificat mystery.

BLESSINGS FOR
LITURGICAL SEASONS

Blessing on

Our Advent Preparation

This blessing is based on the seven great O antiphons sung in the liturgy from December 17-24. The family might pray this blessing by gathering around the Advent wreath with different family members taking turns leading the various parts.

SUNDAY

O Wisdom, O Holy Word of God, you govern all creation with your strong yet tender care. Come and show your people the way to salvation.

The divine Wisdom that brought all creation into existence from nothing offers us a new beginning this Advent. The Word is spoken and comes to live among us in order to recreate us. So whoever is in Christ is a new creation (2 Cor 5: 17). For neither does circumcision mean anything, nor does uncircumcision, but only a new creation (Gal 6: 15). God has made Christ Jesus our Wisdom (see 1 Cor 1: 30) who keeps us in the Fathers tender care.

LORD JESUS, through the power of your strong yet tender care recreate me out of my nothingness this Advent. Bless the poor, the homeless, refugees, those who live without faith, the neglected, the marginalized, and those lost in sin. Show them the way to salvation.

MONDAY

O Sacred Lord of ancient Israel, who showed yourself to Moses in the burning bush, who gave him the Holy Law on Sinai mountain: come, stretch out your mighty hand to set us free.

Adonai, the God of the covenant, promises us this Advent the gift of the new covenant in Jesus Christ. The Father will show us his Son through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Mary is prefigured in the burning bush because she brought forth the power of the divine radiance without being consumed by it (Rabanus Maurus). Christmas bestows us, not with a new law, but with the presence of the divine Lawgiver. He will show us the Father (Jn 14: 8) through his gift of self that empowers us with the freedom to know, love, and respond to God beyond our own natural capacities.

LORD JESUS, free me this Advent from every inclination to self-absorption, willfulness, rebellion, disobedience, and dissent. Stretch out your mighty hand to set free the oppressed, the unjustly accused, captives, slaves, hostages, prisoners, and those enslaved by addictions.

TUESDAY

O Flower of Jesses stem, you have been raised up as a sign for all peoples; kings stand silent in your presence; the nations bow down in worship before you. Come, let nothing keep you from coming to our aid.

Just as worldly kings stand in speechless awe before the divine Flower who is the fruit of Marys womb, so will the world respond to those who witness to Jesus Christ. Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade, s.j., wrote, Divine love, you can make fruitful the darkness in which you keep me. So my soul, like a tiny root, will stay hidden in you and your power will make it send forth fruit which will nourish and delight the souls of others."

LORD JESUS, every day this Advent may I bow down in worship and prayer before you. Please bless the poor, the defenseless, the disabled, the unemployed, the sick, those experiencing financial difficulties, the unborn, the aged, and all those in need. Let nothing keep you from coming to their aid.

WEDNESDAY

O Key of David, O royal power of Israel, controlling at your will the gate of heaven: come, break down the prison walls of death for those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death; and lead your captive people into freedom.

Through the Incarnation, Christ the Key unlocks the mysteries of heaven. The three mysteries of truth to inform our faith, of mercy to govern our hope, and of eternal life to direct our love come to us in Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Gate of Heaven. What the Church declares loosed on earth will be loosed in heaven (Mt 16: 19) through the sacramental Keys that liberate every captive to the law of sin (Rom 7: 23).

LORD JESUS, through confidence in hope help me to persevere when assailed by lifes trials and turmoil. Bless all those who live in darkness and the shadow of death, and break down whatever imprisons them.

THURSDAY

O Radiant Dawn, splendor of eternal light, sun of justice: come, shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death.

My soul looks for the Lord / more than sentinels for daybreak (Ps 130: 6). Our hearts are fixed hopefully on the dawn at Advent as they will be again at Easter. Even now we cry out for the resplendence revealed in Christs Transfiguration. For the Messiah is the sun of justice with its healing rays (Mal 3: 20). He calls us out of darkness into his wonderful light (1 Pt 2: 9).

LORD JESUS, illumine me with your luster that I may radiate your holiness this Advent and always. May the splendor of your eternal light shine on all those who suffer and on the dying.

FRIDAY

O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O keystone of the mighty arch of man: come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.

The mark of a true kings greatness is his power to unify all things for the good of his subjects. Saint Thomas Aquinas tells us that people fall apart by their private interests and come together by their common ones. Joy is the fruit of such harmony. The key to Advent joy is surrendering all the disordered disharmony of our life to Christ the King by relying on Jesus the Keystone. And, since no possession is joyous without a companion (Saint Thomas), God gives us Mary, the New Eve, to be our Advent companion