Reading:
Ephesians 1:3
Write:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,…
Reflect:
Who are we to bless God? Yet we do that. Look at the Divine Praises: “Blessed be God. Blessed be his holy name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Blessed be the name of Jesus. Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.” These are the first few lines of the Divine Praises.
How can we as merely human beings claim any right to bless God? Aah, there is a fatal flaw in that question. We are not just “human beings” – we are “sacred beings”. Paul tells us this in the next verses of this reading: because God has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before him. He has destined us to be adopted as children of the Father, making us members of the royal household of God.
Is it any wonder the world does not like us? Implicitly they understand our claims as members of the royal household of God. This implicit understanding is on a hidden level for them. Mainly because they do not have a language to speak about this marvelous gift that God has chosen to give us. They do not see it as a gift and would much rather act against God and what they think God is offering to humanity.
I do not want to wander very far from the text today so I am not going to expand on that comment. There is another important point I want to make from this reading. In the first major part of this reading today St. Paul speaks of “we” and “us”. But in the last two verses, he turns his attention to “you” and “our”. I do not think this is a minor distinction. I think the majority of the people he was writing to in Ephesus were Gentile Christians. So the opening part of our reading today where he speaks about us being destined for adoption he is speaking about the Jewish legacy of early Christianity.
But… When you compare verse eleven which starts “in him we were also chosen…” and verse thirteen which reads in part “in him you also… were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…” it becomes clear that St. Paul is not pitting one part of Christianity against another, but is in fact tying all of Christianity together under the understanding of the inheritance that we have in Christ “to the praise of his glory.” And that is where our reading today ends.
It ends where it begins. We have been blessed by God, and we are in turn to bless God. It is not that God gains anything by our praising and blessing him. What can God gain by anything from us? His perfection precludes us adding anything to him in any way. But by our praise and worship of him, we are helping ourselves. Why? Let us go back to the Divine Praises: “Blessed be God. Blessed be his holy name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Blessed be the name of Jesus.”
If these do not cause a stirring of love in your heart… something is wrong with your heart. Listen again to the closing part of our reading today from Ephesians:
“In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, SO THAT WE MIGHT EXIST FOR THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY, WE WHO FIRST HOPED IN CHRIST. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.”
We have been chosen. We who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, are called to praise God in every way we can, either by word or action and even by our thought, so says St. Thomas Aquinas.
Pray/Praise:
So, I think it appropriate that we recite all of the Divine Praises today before we move on with the rest of the Mass. Repeat them after me, please.
Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the Name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints. Amen.
Ephesians 1:3
Write:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens,…
Reflect:
Who are we to bless God? Yet we do that. Look at the Divine Praises: “Blessed be God. Blessed be his holy name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Blessed be the name of Jesus. Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.” These are the first few lines of the Divine Praises.
How can we as merely human beings claim any right to bless God? Aah, there is a fatal flaw in that question. We are not just “human beings” – we are “sacred beings”. Paul tells us this in the next verses of this reading: because God has chosen us before the foundation of the world to be holy and without blemish before him. He has destined us to be adopted as children of the Father, making us members of the royal household of God.
Is it any wonder the world does not like us? Implicitly they understand our claims as members of the royal household of God. This implicit understanding is on a hidden level for them. Mainly because they do not have a language to speak about this marvelous gift that God has chosen to give us. They do not see it as a gift and would much rather act against God and what they think God is offering to humanity.
I do not want to wander very far from the text today so I am not going to expand on that comment. There is another important point I want to make from this reading. In the first major part of this reading today St. Paul speaks of “we” and “us”. But in the last two verses, he turns his attention to “you” and “our”. I do not think this is a minor distinction. I think the majority of the people he was writing to in Ephesus were Gentile Christians. So the opening part of our reading today where he speaks about us being destined for adoption he is speaking about the Jewish legacy of early Christianity.
But… When you compare verse eleven which starts “in him we were also chosen…” and verse thirteen which reads in part “in him you also… were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…” it becomes clear that St. Paul is not pitting one part of Christianity against another, but is in fact tying all of Christianity together under the understanding of the inheritance that we have in Christ “to the praise of his glory.” And that is where our reading today ends.
It ends where it begins. We have been blessed by God, and we are in turn to bless God. It is not that God gains anything by our praising and blessing him. What can God gain by anything from us? His perfection precludes us adding anything to him in any way. But by our praise and worship of him, we are helping ourselves. Why? Let us go back to the Divine Praises: “Blessed be God. Blessed be his holy name. Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true man. Blessed be the name of Jesus.”
If these do not cause a stirring of love in your heart… something is wrong with your heart. Listen again to the closing part of our reading today from Ephesians:
“In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, SO THAT WE MIGHT EXIST FOR THE PRAISE OF HIS GLORY, WE WHO FIRST HOPED IN CHRIST. In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.”
We have been chosen. We who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, are called to praise God in every way we can, either by word or action and even by our thought, so says St. Thomas Aquinas.
Pray/Praise:
So, I think it appropriate that we recite all of the Divine Praises today before we move on with the rest of the Mass. Repeat them after me, please.
Blessed be God.
Blessed be His Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be His Most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be His Most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.
Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most Holy.
Blessed be her Holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her Glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the Name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be St. Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints. Amen.
