Peter Espeut | All sinners have a right to blessings

A few years ago I conducted a Bible Service at the General Penitentiary on Tower Street. Being an ordained Catholic clergyman, at the end of the service I gave all the convicts present – and those from the outreach ministry who came with me – the full blessings of the Church. All in the room (including myself) were sinners, but that did not disqualify anyone from receiving God’s blessings.

In English when we say “I give you my blessing” we mean that we support your actions, but that is not what blessings mean in the Catholic tradition.

Every Sunday when a priest or deacon calls down the blessings of the Triune God upon all the sinners present, no one wonders whether we sinners are qualified either to bestow them or receive them, because we are a church of sinners. God loves us, but not the sinful acts we commit. That is why we begin every Mass or Communion Service with a Penitential Rite.

I recommend to you a short and clear declaration published last Monday (December 18) by the Vatican entitled ‘On the pastoral meaning of blessings’ (its Latin title is Fiducia Supplicans). This is an excellent exposition on the theology of blessings – only 45 paragraphs long – and well worth the read.

When you read it for yourself, you will understand why we can’t trust the sensational media to report Church news accurately, especially when it comes to LGBT matters!

Do not be misled by the scandalous press: this document does not support the blessings of same-sex unions or relationships or acts; but it does provide for the blessing of LGBT people – sinners like ourselves – singly, in groups of two (couples), or in larger groups; but not their unions or relationships or acts.

DIFFERENT RULES

There are different rules for formal sacramental blessings and informal simple blessings outside formal liturgy (Paragraph 12). The rules for the latter are quite different to the liturgical laws about formal blessings, like those found in the Book of Blessings we clerics use.

“The Church does not have the power to impart blessings on unions of persons of the same sex” (paragraph 5). Note the word “unions”. Formal blessings require “that what is blessed be conformed to God’s will, as expressed in the teachings of the Church” (paragraph 9).

“When a blessing is invoked on certain human relationships by a special liturgical rite, it is necessary that what is blessed corresponds with God’s designs written in creation and fully revealed by Christ the Lord. 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 extramarital sexual practice” (paragraph 11).

In Scripture some blessings have a “descending” character since they represent the invocation of a blessing that descends from God upon man; and then there is a second type of blessing we find in the Bible that “ascends” from earth to heaven, toward God. This is why we can “Bless the Lord!”

“To God who blesses, we also respond by blessing” (paragraph 16). The divine blessing “descends”, the human blessing “ascends”, but also “extends” toward others (paragraph 17).

One who asks for a blessing shows himself to be in need of God’s saving presence in his life. “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” (paragraph 21).

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

HAPPY FOR THIS

I personally am very happy for this, because if I had to pass a moral test to get blessings, I might not get any at all!

“A blessing may be imparted that not only has an ascending value but also involves the invocation of a blessing that descends from God upon those who – recognising themselves to be destitute and in need of his help – do not claim a legitimation of their own status, but who beg that all that is true, good, and humanly valid in their lives and their relationships be enriched, healed, and elevated by the presence of the Holy Spirit” (Paragraph 31). “These forms of blessing express a supplication that God may grant those aids that come from the impulses of his Spirit – what classical theology calls “actual grace” – so that human relationships may mature and grow in fidelity to the gospel, that they may be freed from their imperfections and frailties, and that they may express themselves in the ever-increasing dimension of the divine love.”

“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” (paragraph 32). “This grace can orient everything according to the mysterious and unpredictable designs of God. Therefore, with its untiring wisdom and motherly care, the Church welcomes all who approach God with humble hearts, accompanying them with those spiritual aids that enable everyone to understand and realise God’s will fully in their existence.”

“How often, through a pastor’s simple blessing, which does not claim to sanction or legitimise anything, can people experience the nearness of the Father, beyond all ‘merits’ and ‘desires’?” (paragraph 34)

“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” (paragraph 43).

“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” (paragraph 38).

So because Catholic clergymen are allowed to bless same-sex people does not mean that the Catholic Church supports same-sex unions or sodomy. The Church offers God’s blessings to all who sincerely ask for them: even LGBT people – even same-sex couples; but not in a formal ceremony, or wearing any liturgical garb, or with any gestures or words similar to a wedding (paragraph 39).

We bless sinful people (those are the only type of humans that exist), but not the sinful things they do. As we bless sinners, we pray that they will accept the grace God offers to reform their lives.

Can it be put any clearer?

The Rev Peter Espeut is Dean of Studies at St Michael’s College and Seminary. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com