The Blessed One

Jesus is the Blessed One.  The word benediction, which is the Latin form for the word blessing, means "to say (dicere) good things (bene)."  Jesus is the Blessed One because God has spoken good things of him.  Most clearly we hear God's blessing after Jesus has been baptised in the river Jordan, when "suddenly there was a voice from heaven, 'This is my Son, the Beloved; my favour rests on him'"  (Matthew 3:16-17).


With this blessing Jesus starts his public ministry.  And all of that ministry is to make known to us that this blessing is not only for Jesus but also for all who follow him.

                                                                        Henri Nouwen 

Tomorrow, we celebrate Pentecost...the coming down and the movement of the Holy Spirit that resulted in the birth of the Christian church. 


An ancient church father, Origen, said, “The weakness that the Spirit helps us with is the flesh. Whenever the Holy Spirit sees our spirit struggling with the flesh and being drawn to it, he stretches out his hand and helps us in our weakness” (Gerald Bray, ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: New Testament VI, Romans [Downers Grove, Illinois: Intervarsity Press, 1998], 229). What a blessing that the Holy Spirit remembers us and helps us in our weakness.

We cannot walk this journey alone. God, the Father and Jesus, the Blessed One, reach out to us through the working of the Holy Spirit to accomplish all God would have us do. That still small voice, that feeling in your gut that you just can't shake, that's the Spirit's touch...do not take His direction lightly. For although it may seem like He has chosen an unlikely path, it is always the best one.