Blessings for 2017

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

~~~ Numbers 6:22-27 ~~~ Psalm 67 ~~~ 

~~~ Galatians  4:4-7 ~~~ Luke 2:16-21 ~~~

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

This is truly one of the most all inclusive blessings

 in the Old Testament.

As the Lord blesses he also promises to keep you.

When the Lord keeps you there is nothing for you to fear...

there is no need for worries...no reason to be anxious.

The light that shines forth from the face of the Lord

is brightness beyond comprehension.

A light  brighter than the sun.

This light purifies your heart and soul.

A heavenly blessing that purifies within the depths of your heart

is certainly to be gracious...imbued with divine grace. 

Surrounded by this great blessing

the Lord looks upon as only he can; with kindness.

The Lord always wants what is good for you.

This blessing is flowing with the peace of the Lord.

It is his peace that the Lord gives us...

it is perfect peace...

complete peace because

 it comes for the source of all peace.

This blessing comes from the one 

who is the Light of the World.

I invite you to pray with this blessings.

Visualize yourself receiving this blessing...

May his light and his peace be with you

 throughout this new year...2017.

~~~Peace~~~

Mary, Mother of God

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 

the Mother of God

~~~ Numbers 6:22-27 ~~~ Psalm 67 ~~~ Galatians 4:4-7 ~~~ 

~~~ Luke 2:16-21 ~~~

We begin this new year with one of the most beautiful 

Old Testament blessings...

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

The Blessed Mother was Blessed with motherhood.

She was Blessed to be the Mother of God.

God keeps Mary forever close to himself...

She is the handmaid of the Lord.

God shed the grace from his face shining upon her...

that she is forever called Blessed.

The peace of God is also the peace Mary has to offer us.

God became one of us so that we can share in his divinity.

Jesus came so that we might be one with him

 just as he was one with Mary.

The closest we can be to Jesus is in receiving the Holy Eucharist.

Mary carried Jesus within her womb.

We can carry him into every cell of our body

 by consuming the consecrated bread and wine.

We receive Jesus, soul and divinity.

He has claimed us to be his own.

We are his in life and in death.

God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts...

As a mother does so often,

Mary kept in her heart all that had been revealed to her.

The heart of Mary holds our prayers 

silently within ready to intercede on our behalf.

May the Lord Bless you and keep you

as we begin another new year...

May 2016 be a year filled with kindness, mercy,

peace, and above all love.

Jesus became one of us.

JOY

to the World!

Blessings for 2015

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary,

 the Mother of God

~~~ Numbers 6:22-27 ~~~ Psalm 67 ~~~ Galatians 4:4-7 ~~~

~~~ Luke 2:16-21 ~~~

There is much for us to draw from in the Old Testament,

but none so beautiful as the words of blessing

we hear today in the reading from Numbers.

The LORD said to Moses: 

“Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: 

This is how you shall bless the Israelites.

Say to them:

The LORD bless you and keep you!

The LORD let his face shine upon

you, and be gracious to you!

The LORD look upon you kindly and

give you peace!

So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, 

and I will bless them.”

God spoke these words of blessing to Moses...

Moses spoke the words to Aaron...

Arron and his sons spoke the words to the Israelites.

Today these same words are spoken to us and for us.

Every year we hear these words as we begin another new year.

Every year these words touch our soul exactly where we are.

We all begin a new year with hopes and fears.

We hope that our life situation will be better.

We fear that nothing in our life will change just because

 the calendar rolled over to another date.

I invite you to treasure these words of blessing...

Write them down and keep them with you.

Save them in your phone.

Whenever you have the opportunity to pray for someone else

or even for yourself, these words of blessing can bring comfort.

Psalm 67 continues to echo these words 

of blessing for us.

May God bless us in his mercy.

May God have pity on us and bless us;

may he let his face shine upon us.

Mary is honored today as the Mother of God.

Mary birthed Jesus allowing all of us to experience

 his face shining upon us.

The shepherds came in haste to see the face of this child. 

They were changed forever.

 ...the shepherds returned,

glorifying and praising God

for all they had heard and seen, 

just as it had been told to them.

The Lord Bless you and Keep you 

in this new year of 2015.

~~~Peace~~~

Blessings for 2014

~~~ Happy New Year~~~
~~~2014~~~
~~Numbers 6:22-27~~Psalm 67~~Galatians 4:4-7~~Luke 2:16-21~~

This is how you shall bless...
Say to them:
The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace!

In Biblical times the words in Hebrew had very concrete meanings.
The Hebrew word for bless is 'barak' which literally means 'to kneel'...
A blessing is gift brought to another on bended knee.

The Hebrew word for 'keep' is 'shamar' which literally means 'to guard'...
A related word is 'shamiyr' which means 'thorn'.
In an effort to protect their sheep
 a shepherd would construct a corral of thorn branches.
This was a way to 'guard' their sheep.

God surrounds us guards us and protects us
letting the light of his face shine down upon us.
While we are in his protection
we will also experience his kindness and peace.

May this year bring greater blessings than you could imagine.
We begin this new year with his blessings.
May your heart be filled with peace, joy, and love.

!!!Happy New Year!!!

Ancient Blessings

~~~ Numbers 6: 22-27 ~~~ Psalm 67 ~~~ Galatians 4:4-7 ~~~ Luke 2: 16-21 ~~~

 

 

The LORD bless you and keep you!
The LORD let his face shine upon
you, and be gracious to you!
The LORD look upon you kindly and
give you peace!

 

 

Today's readings focus on God's Blessings the perfect mind set at the beginning of a new year. The readings are a reminder for us to be mindful of the many ways

in which we are the beneficiaries of God's blessings.

 

Perhaps if we direct our attention to receiving blessings

during the up coming year we will be much happier.

Our expectations of God blessings

may just help us to being more open to the possibility.

 

May God bless us in his mercy.

 

God has blessed in more ways than we can imagine.

God continues to bless us in ways we cannot even detect.

 

God blessed us with the birth of Jesus.

We too have been adopted as sons and daughters of God himself.

Can anything match that blessing?

 

'...As proof that you are sons,
God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts...'

 

More blessings unseen with the naked eye.

 

All who came into direct contact with Jesus were blessed.

The shepherds, the wise men, Mary and Joseph themselves.

They were each blessed with the gift of wonder and awe.

 

 

I once heard that the older we become the less we are effected

by wonder and awe.

If that is true then we must make a point to look

for the blessings

of wonder and awe in our life.

Our days are filled with blessings

great and small.

 

Look for the blessings in your life during 2013.

Most people avoid the number thirteen for different reasons.

Let's turn any negative feelings we may have about

this number by focusing on our

Blessings.

May the New Year

~2013~

be filled with abundant blessings.