By Bill Hunter, Eastern Shore Chapel, Virginia Beach
& member of the Leading a Holy Life Task Force
“Blessing” has been
defined as the authoritative pronouncement of God’s favor… In Christian
practice, blessing finds a frequent place in liturgy, especially in the
blessing of the elements in consecration and the blessing of the people at the
end of the Mass. In Holy Matrimony, the formal
name of the service is “The Celebration and Blessing of a Marriage.”
From a theological
perspective what then is a “blessing”?
If a blessing is the pronouncement of God’s favor, does this also imply
God’s approval?
Blessings appear to have
one function in liturgy (the act of consecration or to make holy) and another
in the context of the blessing of a home.
In such a blessing, homes are not made holy in the way that a church is
dedicated or consecrated as holy space. What
is happening when a home is blessed?
Could it be that we are inviting God’s favor in the hope that we will be
worthy of such favor and that we will align our lives with God’s will? If so, the function of blessing is to remind
the ones blessed of who they are. By
grace, we receive the blessing of God.
The blessing is intended to be relational, a two-way street.
Then, what would it mean
to bless a same-gender relationship in the context of worship?
Question: What is your understanding of God’s blessing and
how have you experienced God’s blessing in your life?
*In part an extract from “Report of theTask Force on Holiness in Relationships and the Blessings of Same-SexRelationships.” Published by the Episcopal Diocese of San Diego in June 2009
As a priest I have been asked to bless a lot of different things: backpacks at the beginning of a school year, pets (including a ferret that bit me in the process), motorcycles, crosses, and Christmas toys – this in addition to the more standard fare of water for baptism, bread and wine, and couples at a marriage. While I have done a lot of official blessing, I am embarrassed to admit I am hard pressed to define exactly what the act of blessing actually means. I suspect I am not alone.
ReplyDeleteI am pleased that the “Excepts from ‘I Will Bless You, and You Will Be a Blessing’ Resources for Blessing Same-Gender Relationships” prepared by The Standing Commission on Liturgy and Music of the Episcopal Church (dated March 7, 2012) concentrates on helping the church define the act of blessing. Page 7 contains this statement:
“The Church participates in God’s blessing of committed, covenantal couples in three intertwined aspects: first, we thank God for the grace already discerned in the lives of the couple; second, we ask God’s continual favor so that the couple may manifest more fully the fruits of the Spirit in their lives; and third, we seek the empowerment of the Holy Spirit as the Church commissions the couple to bear witness to the gospel in the world.”
In every act of blessing I have officiated I can see this same threefold pattern of thanking, asking, and empowering. More than one person has brought unruly animal to a Blessing of the Pets ceremony and said to me, “I hope you can do something with my dog, because he needs help” (to which I typically respond “Actual results may vary.”) But even in this situation we can give thanks for the goodness the dog has exhibited, pray that these good gifts will increase, and offer what is good to God’s service in the world.
I am grateful for the report’s theology of blessing because it helps me to make theological sense of what I have been called to do in the ordained ministry.
Keith Emerson
St. Paul's, Suffolk
Les Ferguson
ReplyDeleteSt. John's Chuckatuck
Thanks for relating that information. I was trying to say that but unable to come up with the words.
Les