Monday, Fifth Week of Easter”And behold I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
Luke 24:49
We are four verses away from the end of Luke’s Gospel. Jesus promises to send the Holy Spirit upon them.
At the beginning of the Gospel the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, and Jesus was conceived in her. Now, at the end, Jesus promised to send the Spirit upon the disciples, and disciples of all ages, so that He can be present to all of us.
Those are his last words in Luke’s Gospel
In the entire scene the disciples speak not a word. All the initiative is taken by Jesus. It is He who comes to them, not the other way around. It is He who speaks to them. It is He who shows them his hands and his feet. It is He who asks for something to eat. It is He who provides all the assurance.
During these 50 days of the Easter Season we simply enjoy the Lord’s presence. It is the Lord who takes the initiative and blesses us with his presence. It is the Lord who speaks to us. It is the Lord who provides the assurance.
Enjoy a few minutes letting the Lord, through his Spirit, take the initiative.
Spend some quiet time with the Risen Lord.
April 26, 2005Blessings
The Latin word for “blessing” (bene-dictio) means to “speak well” of or upon someone. A person blesses God by speaking well upon (praising) God. One blesses another by asking God to do well by them. Actually, “good-bye”. Is a blessing, a contracted form of “God be with you.”
Besides the Sign of the Cross (which is a blessing upon oneself), the blessing most commonly used by Christians is the blessing upon food and upon those gathered to eat it: “Bless us O Lord, and these thy gifts…
Blessings are not magical and though the words themselves carried their own power. God is the source of every good gift, and ultimately, all blessings come from God.” “Praise God from whom all blessing flow.”
At the end of Luke’s Gospel, the risen Lord blesses the disciples, and then afterward they are described as continually in the temple blessing God.
* * *
Every Christian can bless others. Some have a special authority to invoke God’s blessings, for example, parents upon their children…or those who are ordained to act on behalf of the Church. The Church promulgated this by publishing the Book of Blessings in 1988.
Sometimes objects are “officially” blessed insofar as they are set aside for sacred use – e.g. an altar, a chalice, a crucifix, a rosary. At other times objects are blessed insofar as one asks God’s special care – e.g. a home, a car, a boat. These objects aren’t set aside as sacred, but God is asked to be present in a special way.
