Bless God who blesses us

Dec 05, 2020

The world’s hope lies entirely in the blessing of God, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ. God did not wait for us to convert ourselves before beginning to love us; He loved us a long time before, when we were still in sin — we cannot but bless this God who blesses us. Blessing is an essential dimension of prayer.

From the first pages of the Bible, there is a continual repetition of blessings. God blesses, and men and women soon discover that the blessing possesses a special power that accompanies the person who receives it throughout his or her entire life and disposes the person’s heart to allow God to change it (Vat. II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, 61).

Like a good father and a good mother, God never stops loving his child, no matter what wrong he or she may have done. It is impressive to read these biblical texts of blessing in prison or a rehabilitation group. To allow these people to hear that they are still blessed, despite their grave errors, is itself a blessing. The Heavenly Father continues to desire their good and hopes that they will open themselves to the good. Even if their closest relatives have abandoned them, since they by now judge them to be irredeemable, they always remain children of God.

God’s grace changes lives. God takes us as we are, but never leaves us as we are. Let us think of what Jesus did with Zacchaeus (cf. Lk 19: 1-10). Everyone saw evil in him, but Jesus saw a glimmer of good in him. And from there, from his curiosity, Jesus lets the mercy of the God who saves fill his heart. Thus, Zacchaeus’ heart is touched, and his life changed. In every rejection and rejected people, Jesus sees the Father’s indelible blessing of mercy.

To God who blesses, we too respond with a blessing: it is the prayer of praise, adoration, and thanksgiving. — AsiaNews