A blessing based on The Beatitudes which I used last night in prayer group. It's from the conclusion of Margaret Silf's
Landmarks: An Ignatian Journey.
I bless the poverty in your heart, which knows its own emptiness, because
that gives me space to grow my Kingdom there.
I bless that in you that touches others gently, because everyone responds to
gentleness, and gentleness can capture even hardened hearts.
I bless that in you that grieves and aches for all that is lost or can never
be, because that is my opportunity to comfort you with my much greater love.
I bless that in you that longs and strives after your own deepest truth and
after truth for the world, because even as you pray, I am constantly satisfying
these deep unspoken longings.
I bless you every time you show mercy and forgiveness, because that is like a
little window in your heart, setting you free from resentment and opening up a
space for me to enter and to heal.
I bless the purity of your heart, because that is the elusive center where your
deepest desire meets mine. That is where we meet face-to-face.
I bless the peacemaker in you, that in you that seeks the peace that passes
understanding, knowing the cost of its obtaining, because that is what I sent
my Son to give, and in your peacemaking you become my daughter or son.
I bless even those things in your experience of journeying with me that feel
like persecution and abuse and misunderstanding, because they are the proof
that your faith is no illusion.
