All in need of God’s ‘saving presence’

Dec. 18, 2023

Statement from Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond

The Declaration issued (Dec. 18) by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith (DDF) is a reminder to all of us that in requesting a blessing of an individual or with another, we are all “in need of God’s saving presence” in our lives and that we may always seek “God’s assistance … to live better.” The Church’s teaching on marriage has not changed. The document specifically states that in asking for a blessing it is the couple that is blessed, not their union. This declaration affirms this teaching while allowing for an effort to accompany people in irregular relationships by recognizing the need each of us has for God’s healing love and mercy in our lives.

The following summary contains excerpts from the Declaration on the Pastoral Meaning of Blessings issued by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of Faith

Introduction

“The greatest blessing of God is Jesus Christ. … He is a blessing for all humanity, a blessing that has saved us all. He is the eternal Word, with whom the Father blessed us ‘while we were still sinners’ (Rom 5:8), as St. Paul says.” (1)

I. The blessing in the sacrament of marriage

“Rites and prayers that could create confusion between what constitutes marriage – which is the ‘exclusive, stable and indissoluble union between a man and a woman, naturally open to the generation of children’ – and what contradicts it are inadmissible.” (4)

“This conviction is grounded in the perennial Catholic doctrine of marriage” (4)

“The Church doctrine on this point remains firm.” (4)

II. The meaning of various blessings

“Blessings are among the most widespread and evolving sacramentals.” (8)

> The liturgical meaning of the Rite of Blessing

“Blessings have as their recipients: people; objects of worship and devotion; sacred images; places of life, or work and suffering; the fruits of the earth and human toil; and all created realities that refer back to the Creator, praising and blessing him by their beauty.” (8)

“From a strictly liturgical point of view, a blessing requires that what is blessed be conformed to God’s will, as expressed in the teachings of the Church.” (9)

“For this reason, since the Church has always considered only those sexual relations that are lived out within marriage to be morally licit, the Church does not have the power to confer its liturgical blessing when that would somehow offer a form of moral legitimacy to a union that presumes to be a marriage or to an extra-marital sexual practice.” (11)

> Blessings in Sacred Scripture

“This ‘priestly blessing’ we find in the Old Testament …has a ‘descending’ character since it represents the invocation of a blessing that descends from God upon man. … there is a second type of blessing we find in the biblical pages: that which ‘ascends’ from earth to heaven, toward God. Blessing in this sense amounts to praising, celebrating and thanking God from earth to heaven, toward God.” (15)

“The blessing found in the New Testament retains essentially the same meaning it had in the Old Testament. We find the divine gift that ‘descends,’ the human thanksgiving that ‘ascends,’ and the blessing imparted by man that ‘extends’ toward others.” (17)

>A theological/pastoral understanding of blessing

“One who asks for a blessing shows himself to be in need of God’s saving presence in his life, and one who asks for a blessing from the Church recognizes the latter as a sacrament of the salvation that God offers. To seek a blessing in the Church is to acknowledge that the life of the Church springs from the womb of God’s mercy and helps us to move forward, to live better, and to respond to the Lord’s will.” (20)

“When one asks for a blessing, one is expressing a petition for God’s assistance, a plea to live better, and confidence in a Father who can help us live better.” (21)

“When considered outside of a liturgical framework, these expressions of faith are found in a realm of greater spontaneity and freedom.” (23)

“… When people ask for a blessing, an exhaustive moral analysis should not be placed as a precondition for conferring it. For, those seeking a blessing should not be required to have prior moral perfection.” (25)

“God blesses, but humans also give blessings, and soon it turns out that the blessing possesses a special power, which accompanies those who receive it throughout their lives, and disposes man’s heart to be changed by God. … So we are more important to God than all the sins we can commit because he is father, he is mother, he is pure love, he has blessed us forever. And he will never stop blessing us.” (27)

“While ‘it is not appropriate for a diocese, a bishops’ conference, or any other ecclesial structure to constantly and officially establish procedures or rituals for all kinds of matters, pastoral prudence and wisdom – avoiding all serious forms of scandal and confusion among the faithful – may suggest that the ordained minister join in the prayer of those persons who, although in a union that cannot be compared in any way to a marriage, desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and of truth.” (30)

III. Blessing of couples in irregular situations

“Within the horizon outlined here appears the possibility of blessings for couples in irregular situations and for couples of the same sex, the form of which should not be fixed ritually by ecclesial authorities to avoid producing confusion with the blessing proper to the Sacrament of Marriage.” (31)

“Indeed, the grace of God works in the lives of those who do not claim to be righteous but who acknowledge themselves humbly as sinners, like everyone else.” (32)

“… A blessing offers people a means to increase their trust in God. The request for a blessing, thus, expresses and nurtures openness to the transcendence, mercy, and closeness to God in a thousand concrete circumstances of life, which is no small thing in the world in which we live. It is a seed of the Holy Spirit that must be nurtured, not hindered. (33)

“The pastoral sensibility of ordained ministers should also be formed to perform blessings spontaneously that are not found in the Book of Blessings.” (35)

“It is essential to grasp the Holy Father’s concern that these non-ritualized blessings never cease being simple gestures that provide an effective means of increasing trust in God on the part of the people who ask for them, careful that they should not become a liturgical or semi-liturgical act, similar to a sacrament.” (36)

“For this reason, one should neither provide for nor promote a ritual for the blessings of couples in an irregular situation. At the same time, one should not prevent or prohibit the Church’s closeness to people in every situation in which they might seek God’s help through a simple blessing. In a brief prayer preceding this spontaneous blessing, the ordained minister could ask that the individuals have peace, health, a spirit of patience, dialogue and mutual assistance – but also God’s light and strength to be able to fulfill his will completely.” (38)

“This blessing should never be imparted in concurrence with the ceremonies of a civil union, and not even in connection with them. Nor can it be performed with any clothing, gestures or words that are proper to a wedding. The same applies when the blessing is requested by a same-sex couple.” (39)

“…no further responses should be expected about possible ways to regulate details or practicalities regarding blessings of this type.” (41)

IV. The Church is the sacrament of God’s infinite love

“The Church is thus the sacrament of God’s infinite love. Therefore, even when a person’s relationship with God is clouded by sin, he can always ask for a blessing, stretching out his hand to God, as Peter did in the storm when he cried out to Jesus, “Lord, save me!” (Mt. 14:30).” (43)

“Indeed, desiring and receiving a blessing can be the possible good in some situations. Pope Francis reminds us that ‘a small step, in the midst of great human limitations, can be more pleasing to God than a life which appears outwardly in order but moves through the day without confronting great difficulties.’” (43)

The full text of the declaration is available at: https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/it/bollettino/pubblico/2023/12/18/0901/01963.html#en