BLESSED BE GOD

Dear Friends in Christ:

A friend of mine once said that he could tell a lot about a priest’s theology by the way he pronounced “blessed.” Was it a two syllable word or a one syllable word? It was clear that my friend didn’t have much use for the theology of those for whom it was a two syllable word and I wasn’t at all happy with his opinion.

But then I got thinking about it and came to understand, I think, what my friend was getting at. Bless-ed seems to me to be a static word, a word that speaks about a state of being, about the way something or someone is. Blessed is, quite the contrary, an active word, or, better yet, a relational word. To say someone is blessed is to say that someone – most often God - blessed the person. Blessing is something we receive, something we give.

At the beginning of the Eucharist, the priest often says, “Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” and the people respond, “And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Amen.”  When I pronounce “blessed” as a one syllable word, I am reminded that God has invited us to bless God, to be a blessing to God through our words and our actions. Jesus said something along the same lines when he spoke of us as members of the vine who need to abide in him – the vine – and be fruitful: “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.” (John 15:8) The Father is glorified, blessed when we allow God’s love for us to transform us and make us fruitful.

The Christian faith is full of paradoxes like this. Although God has no need of glory, God wants to be glorified when we live fruitful lives, lives in which the love of God is reflected. Although God could, as John the Baptist said, “raise up children to Abraham” from the stones of the desert (Matthew 3:9), the Father chooses to make us his children. Although the crucifixion was, in the world’s terms, defeat for Jesus and an end to the disciples hopes for the Kingdom, it was not the end, but the beginning. “For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:25)

As we follow Jesus in the Way, may our lives be a blessing to others, and may God be blessed by us.

Your brother and priest,

Daniel