Dear Beloved Ones of Trinity Church,
This past week, I found myself re-reading John O’Donohue’s classic work To Bless the Space Between Us, a wonderful collection of poems and soulful wisdom. Toward the end of the book, he has a section called “Preparing the Space for Blessing.”
“When a blessing is being invoked, time deepens until it becomes a source from which refreshment and encouragement are released. As Yeats says: Feeling I was blessed and that I now too could bless.
Whenever one person takes another into the care of their heart, they have the power to bless. There are things we never do simply because it never occurs to us that we can do that. To bless someone is to offer a beautiful gift. When we love someone, we turn toward them with our souls. And the soul itself is a source of blessing.” (p.207)
In the Examination portion in the liturgy for the Ordination of a Priest, it says, “You are to preach, to declare God’s forgiveness to penitent sinners, to pronounce God’s blessing, to share in the administration of Holy Baptism and in the celebration of the mysteries of Christ’s Body and Blood, and to perform other ministrations entrusted to you.” (BCP, p.531)
Within the liturgies and sacramental rites of the Church, priests are given the privilege and responsibility of pronouncing blessing, but I pray that you never underestimate your power to bless. We are created in and through God’s blessing and love. That reality is the ground of our being and the true essence of our humanity, wonderfully restored and animated in the waters of baptism.
One does not need to raise their hand and make the sign of the cross invoking the trinitarian formula of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to bestow blessing. When you listen with compassion, see the truth of someone’s pain, speak words of tenderness and truth, open your heart and soul to another, and reach out your hands to serve and care - you offer a blessing. You become a living, breathing, loving blessing!
O’Donohue goes on to say, “Perhaps we bless one another all the time, without even realizing it.” (p.209) This offers us the possibility of a life “infused with blessing.” And this, dear ones, changes us, changes the world, changes everything.
Peace and blessings to all!