God's blessing

GOD'S BLESSING

No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the influence of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3), in the same way we can not bless God unless we feel love for Him. However it is not that we love God, but that God loved us first (1 John 4:19), and we also bless God because He blessed us first.

To bless God is most rewarding, the blessing comes back to the giver one hundredfold, to bless another person is great spiritual charity, since we are desiring God's love to cover another person with our blessing.

When Jesus said bless those who curse you (Luke 6:28), He was not saying bless only those who curse you, in fact he was saying bless everyone, even those who curse you. Love your enemies also means to love everyone in general even your enemies.

God's love is unconditional and so must be our love for one another. God's blessing is unconditional, but we must love Him and seek Him in order to obtain His blessing.

The blessing of God is a gift upon all the other gifts that he has already given us, therefore we must come often to Him to treasure His blessings.

In the same way we must become a source of blessings for others, we must love them and wish them well, not only temporarily but especially spiritually. Our blessing is like a secret extension of the blessing of God upon others.

To measure how powerful a blessing is, we can by contrast meditate on the power of a curse. All those people who have been possessed by evil spirits have had one thing in common, they have been cursed and most of the time it has been a curse coming directly from their parents which has opened the way for the evil spirit. In the same way, but more powerfully the blessing given to another opens the way for the mercy and the blessings of God to enter into the life of the one we bless.

Take for example the blessing of the priest. He has been given the power to bless the bread and wine that becomes the flesh and blood of Christ, he has been anointed with the apostolic blessing that Jesus gave to his apostles.

Therefore, the blessing of the priest at the end of the mass is very powerful, his blessing upon a house or any sacramental object is indeed a blessing by one anointed by God.

By accepting the blessing of a priest, we have an opportunity of showing God appreciation for his anointed. (Luke 13:35) Behold, says the Lord: your house is forsaken. And I tell you, you will not see me until you say "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord"

(Matthew 10:40) He that receives you, receives me: and he that receives me, receives him that sent me. Whenever we see a priest or think about one, let us remember that he is the anointed of the Lord and that he deserves our respect because in the words of the Lord: "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord".

The Sign of the cross

When we bless ourselves with the sign of the cross, we should take advantage of this opportunity to meditate the passion of Christ.

As I bless myself with the sign of the cross, I clothe my soul with the holy wounds of Jesus Christ who died for my sins.The image of my soul which has been destroyed by sin receives restoration and protection from my Lord and Saviour.

"Lord Jesus Christ imprint upon my soul your most holy wounds, so that I may be purified from all my sinfulness, deliver me Lord from all evil."

In the name of the Father,

I bless my soul with the holy wounds of the sacred head of Jesus and the sufferings of His holy mind, so that I may always keep my soul in the Presence of God.

In the name of the Son,

I bless my soul with the wounds of His sacred feet, so that I may always walk in the path of Salvation and proclaim the Word of God to others.

In the name of the Holy Spirit,

I bless my soul with the wounds of His sacred hands, that I may always do the work of God.

Conclusion

As we go through the whole Bible studying the different types of blessings, first of all we find that God blesses his creation, then he blesses special humble and obedient people like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

The blessing is a very important grace that is given to comfort and to protect, to fill with wisdom and to make holy.

God blesses the people of Israel as a chosen race, first of all he delivers them from the slavery of Egypt and then he accompanies them through their journey of salvation.

Moses is a holy man who prefigures Christ, he receives the first blessing as he is saved from the waters, this prefigures the waters of baptism through which we must go in order to be saved.

The freedom of the people of Israel from the slavery in Egypt represents the freedom that is obtained in Christ from the slavery of sin. As the Israelites went through the red sea in order to be saved, so must we go through the red sea of the Precious Blood of Christ in order to be purified and saved.

Jacob was a very interesting man who understood the meaning of being blessed. First he even deceived his father by impersonating his older brother Essau in order to obtain his father's blessing. Then he wrestled with God and he would not let him go until he was blessed.

Perhaps we must learn about the value of the blessing of God, we must struggle in our daily weaknesses and still come to God with sorrow for our sins, in an act of humility, we must beg God's blessing in every prayer that we do, in every meditation that we have about God.

God's blessing must become the object of our daily encounters with God.

We must ask the Lord frequently to bless us and to bless our work and all our activities. We must bless others silently in the name of the Lord and pray that everyone will benefit from God's blessing.

We must bless ourselves frequently:

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In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Joseph of Jesus and Mary

The Work of God Apostolate


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