As we begin another year, we ask the Lord to continue to bless us throughout all our days with peace and love. The liturgical year during this time recalls the Magi looking for Jesus a reminder for us as well to look for Jesus every day in the hope that when we find him we follow him faithfully.

In the Book of Numbers, the Lord said to Moses: “Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites. Say to them: The LORD bless you and keep you! The LORD let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you! The LORD look upon you kindly and give you peace! So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.” (6:22-27).

Invoking God’s name and blessing his chosen people the Israelites, Moses is clearly instructed how Aaron and his sons are to bring peace to them by blessing them. Jesus came to fulfill the promise of God, that a Savior would come to bring peace and to save us all.

The New American Bible commentary on Verse 26 of Chapter 6 of Numbers mentions “Peace: the Hebrew word Shalom includes the idea of happiness, good health, prosperity, friendship, and general well-being. To use this term as a greeting was to pray for all these things upon the one greeted.”

God wants to continue to bless us, to protect us, to enlighten us so that he can love us and give us peace in his Son Christ Jesus.

For Catholics, blessings are called “sacramentals” because they prepare us to receive the grace of the sacraments and help us to grow to be more like Christ. Among sacramental, blessings of persons, meals, objects, and places come first. Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are blessed by God the Father “with every spiritual blessing.” This is why the Church imparts blessings by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the Sign of the Cross of Christ.) Catechism of the Catholic Church, #1671.

St. Paul in his Letter to the Ephesians reminds us of the greatest blessing we have received: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved.” (6:3-6).

As we begin another year in spite of the pandemic we have experienced the last two years, may we seek every day of the year God’s blessing upon us and all of our loved ones. Perhaps we can think of how much God has blessed us by the many people that are and have been a blessing in our lives and how we can be a blessing to others.

There’s a prayer by St. Padre Pio which he prayed after receiving Holy Communion that I find encouraging for us to pray daily: “Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak and I need Your strength, that I may not fall so often. Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life, and without You, I am without meaning and hope.

“Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light, and without You, I am in darkness. Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will. Stay with me, Lord, so that I can hear Your voice and follow you. Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You ever more, and to be always in Your company. Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be always faithful to You. Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is, I wish it to be a place of consolation for You, a dwelling of Your love.

“Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late; the days are coming to a close and life is passing. Death, judgment and eternity are drawing near. It is necessary to renew my strength, so that I will not stop along the way, for that I need You. It is getting late and death approaches. I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows. O how I need you, my Jesus, in this night of exile! Stay with me, Jesus, because in the darkness of life, with all its dangers, I need You. Help me to recognize You as Your disciples did at the Breaking of the Bread, so that the Eucharist Communion be the light which disperses darkness, the power which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

“Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death I want to be one with You, and if not by Communion, at least by Your grace and love. Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolations because I do not deserve them, but I only ask for the gift of Your Presence. Oh yes! I ask this of You. Stay with me, Lord, for I seek You alone, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart, Your Spirit, because I love You and I ask for no other reward but to love You more and more, with a strong active love. Grant that I may love You with all my heart while on earth, so that I can continue to love you perfectly throughout all eternity, dear Jesus.”