God of Blessing

As a boy, I remember our parish priest would visit my grandparents’ house.  Before he left, my grandmother would always ask his blessing and all of us would kneel to receive it. Another childhood memory sees my mother dipping her finger in a small holy water font that hung on the bedroom wall and sprinkling some of the water over my brothers and me in blessing every night. 

We begin the New Year hearing an ancient blessing in today’s first reading.  What a beautiful way to enter into the new year as we gather, calling on God to bless us, to keep us, to let the divine face shine on us, to look on us kindly and to give us peace. These words tell us who our God is and what God wishes to give us—blessing. In Mary, our mother, we see what it means to live out of God’s blessing and bring Christ to the world. 

In the fullness of time, God blessed creation with Jesus, our Savior, who came to call us to a freedom that is the true blessing of the adopted children of our  Abba (Father)-God. Jesus continues to ask God’s blessing on us, standing with us, and blessing us with his peace. Today we ask God to bless our world with the peace that the world cannot achieve on its own. Today we ask Mary, the Holy  Mother of God, to pray with us as we join her in reflecting on the One whom the angels named as our Savior.

Consider/Discuss

• What blessing do you ask of God as this new year begins? 
• When have you last blessed someone (other than when someone sneezes)? Whose blessing would you ask? 

Responding to the Word

God of blessing, look kindly upon our world as we begin this new year of grace.  Bless all those who work for peace and drive out from the hearts of all your children any temptation to take up arms against another. Mary, our mother, bless us with peace.