Sixteen Biblical Blessings for Pope Benedict XVI

by Felix Just, S.J., Ph.D.


The name “Benedict” comes from the Latin word benedictus, meaning “blessed.” It is derived from the verb bene-dicere, which literally means “to speak well of” or “to say good things about.”
The equivalent words in biblical Greek are eulogeō (verb: “to bless or praise”), eulogia (noun: “blessing”), and eulogētos (adjective: “blessed”);
closely related in meaning are makarios (adjective: “blessed”), makarizō (verb: “to call or consider blessed”), and makarismos (noun: “blessedness”).

We normally think of God blessing people, or people praying that God may bless them and/or bless other people;
but in the Bible, human beings also “bless” God, meaning that we “say good things about God” (thus it is closely related to “praise” and “thank”).

So may Pope Benedict XVI truly be blessed by God, may he be an instrument of God's blessing for all people, and may he lead us in blessing God at all times.
May the new Bishop of Rome, all the bishops, and all Christian believers be inspired by the following sixteen categories of blessings, and by the many other blessings found in the Bible.

1) God creates and blesses the whole human race:

2) God blesses Abraham and his descendents, and the Patriarchs bless their descendents:

3) God instructs Moses on how the priests are to bless the people (“The Priestly Blessing of Aaron”):

4) Moses blesses the Israelites about to enter the Promised Land:

5) Blessings in the Book of Psalms:

6) Blessings in the Books of the Prophets:

7) Blessings in the Gospels related to Mary, the Mother of Jesus:

8) Jesus teaches the crowds the “Beatitudes”:

9) Jesus instructs his followers to bless their enemies (a teaching repeated in the Letters of Paul and Peter):

10) Jesus blesses his disciples, or calls them blessed, on various occasions:

11) Blessings in the Parables of Jesus:

12) Quoting from the Psalms, crowds call Jesus blessed as he enters Jerusalem:

13) Climactic Challenges and Final Blessings in the Fourth Gospel:

14) Blessings in the Letters of Paul:

15) Blessings in the Catholic Epistles:

16) Blessings in the Book of Revelation:


[Note: All quotations are taken from the NRSV, the "New Revised Standard Version" of the Bible.]


Addendum:

 


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This page was updated on July 11, 2012, the Feast of St. Benedict of Nursia, and expanded again on May 28, 2022
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