Family Blessing

Reflecting on the Second Sunday in Lent: Three Days after Sunday (Year A)

Scripture

Psalter: Psalm 128

Old Testament: Ezekiel 36:22-32

Gospel: John 7:53—8:11

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Prayer

God of amazing compassion, lover of our wayward race, you bring to birth a pilgrim people, and call us to be a blessing for ourselves and all the world. We pray for grace to take your generous gift and step with courage on this holy path, confident in the radiant life that is your plan for us, made known and given in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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Reflection

Happy is everyone who fears the Lord,

    who walks in his ways.

You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;

    you shall be happy, and it shall go well with you.

Your wife will be like a fruitful vine

    within your house;

your children will be like olive shoots

    around your table.

Thus shall the man be blessed

    who fears the Lord.

The Lord bless you from Zion.

    May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem

    all the days of your life.

6 May you see your children’s children.

    Peace be upon Israel! (Psalm 128).

by Larry Broding

How is your family a blessing to you?

This short psalm was a beatitude for the humble, Law-biding family man. The man in awe of the Lord would prosper, have a “proper,” child-bearing wife (hidden in the family's compound), and children who would surround the father at the table. (Notice the two agricultural analogies: the vine represented the fertile wife bearing many children and the olive plants represented the productive off-spring to bring the father wealth.) The form of Psalm 128:1b-4 was “A-B-A,” where the man feared the Lord (1b and 4) would prosper with wife and many children.

This man would receive the blessing of the Temple and share in the festivities of Jerusalem. The end of the blessing wished the man long life to see his grandchildren.

The invocation of “Shalom” for Israel concluded the psalm.

In context, this “song of ascents” was prayed over the pilgrim at sacrifice in the Temple. The priest who received the offering blessed the faithful man. 128:5-6 indicated this blessing may have been invoked before the pilgrim left. In any case, the psalm presented the ideal lay man: prosperous, yet humble with a faithful, fertile wife and many children. In the eyes of the psalmist, this pilgrim would see his grandchildren and live to a ripe old age.

Notions about the ideal lay person have changed. Women have an equal place with men. Children are treasured and nurtured, not exploited for their productivity. Yet, the idea of family as blessing remains. God uses the family to bless parents. Every parent prays they will see their grandchildren. (Some of us actually reach that point!)

When I was an undergrad, a professor once proclaimed, “There is nothing like a marriage based on faith and a faith-filled family.” I could not agree more. Both are pure blessing.

Thank God for the blessing of your family. Ask blessing on your immediate and extended family.

PRAYER: God of wilderness and water, your Son was baptized and tempted as we are. Guide us through this season, that we may not avoid struggle, but open ourselves to blessing, through the cleansing depths of repentance and the heaven-rending words of the Spirit. Amen.

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