{"id":5028,"date":"2013-06-20T23:21:23","date_gmt":"2013-06-21T05:21:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/?p=5028"},"modified":"2020-09-10T15:15:33","modified_gmt":"2020-09-10T21:15:33","slug":"blessing-your-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/marccardaronella.com\/blog\/2013\/06\/20\/blessing-your-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Is It Time You Started Blessing Your Children?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"water-blessing-kids\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you give your children blessings?<\/p>\n

I was speaking to a group of parents recently and mentioned how I bless my kids with holy water every night.<\/p>\n

I got blank stares.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo you bless your kids holy water?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

Blank stares again. They\u2019d never heard of it.<\/p>\n

Most of the time we think of priests giving blessings. And, of course, that’s what they do.<\/p>\n

However, as a parent, you can use blessings too. Fathers and mothers have the spiritual authority to bless their children.<\/p>\n

Here’s a few thoughts on the blessings of blessing your children. Hopefully, by the end of this post, I’ll have you stopping by the parish office on your way home to pick up some holy water and start today.
\n<\/p>\n

How to bless your kids<\/h2>\n

\u201cThe Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Have you ever heard a priest give this blessing?<\/p>\n

When I was at Franciscan University, then president Fr. Michael Scanlan used to give this blessing at the end of every Mass.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s called the Aaronic Blessing and it comes from Numbers 6:22-27. A little after this verse, God says Aaron (the High Priest and Moses\u2018 brother) should use it to \u201cput my [God\u2019s] name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be honest, I heard about it from a talk Jeff Cavins once did. He once mentioned using the Aaronic Blessing with his daughters everyday. I thought I should do that too.<\/p>\n

However, I um\u2026never use the Aaronic blessing. It\u2019s wonderful but a bit long (not that you shouldn\u2019t use it if you\u2019d like to).<\/p>\n

I have a simpler approach. I put some holy water on my thumb, trace the sign of the cross on their foreheads, and say, \u201cGod bless you in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.\u201d Quick and easy.<\/p>\n

A few thoughts on holy water<\/h2>\n

Holy water is powerful stuff! St. Teresa of Avila loved holy water.<\/p>\n

She was often bothered by demons and sometimes could even see them. The name of Jesus usually worked to shoo them away, but sometimes it didn\u2019t. When nothing else did the trick, she sprinkled holy water on them. Even the peskiest demons would flee.<\/p>\n

You think there\u2019s no demons trying to mess with you? Think again. As a Catholic parent, you should always have holy water handy. Bless your kid\u2019s bed, windows, closet\u2026everything! And especially bless them.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t recommend the little ceramic holy water fonts. They\u2019re pretty but the water evaporates too quickly and you\u2019re left with a dirty residue at the bottom. The worst is when it\u2019s almost out and you dip your finger into a gritty mess.<\/p>\n

I use the standard plastic bottles that have a spout at the top and say Holy Water. You can get them really cheap at any Catholic bookstore and they work the best.<\/p>\n

When should you bless them?<\/h2>\n

I bless my kids at night before they go to sleep. I\u2019ve done that since they were both infants. They can\u2019t remember a time when I didn\u2019t do this, and even the 11 year old asks for it every night.<\/p>\n

I thought they\u2019d get tired of me using the holy water to bless them but it\u2019s never happened. A few times I\u2019ve even run out and just given them a \u201cdry blessing.\u201d They called me on it and asked for the water.<\/p>\n

One thing I\u2019ve never done, but want to start doing, is blessing them before they leave the house in the morning. It hit me lately that I should be calling down the Lord\u2019s protection on them before they leave the safe-haven of home and go out into the big bad world. And that\u2019s really what it\u2019s all about isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

Parenting takeaway<\/h2>\n

Should you start blessing your children? Absolutely!<\/p>\n

Blessings are an indispensable way to exercise your spiritual authority as a parent. They’re\u00a0quick, simple, and powerful.\u00a0Just like Aaron, you can put the name of the Lord on your kids so God will bless and protect them.<\/p>\n

Your children need protection against the forces seeking to turn them from holiness and spiritual freedom. You are your child’s guardian, not only in the physical world, but in the spiritual world as well.<\/p>\n

Besides, if it\u2019s good enough for St. Teresa, it\u2019s good enough for everyone.<\/p>\n

P.S.<\/h2>\n

Do you bless your kids with holy water? What do you think? Tell me about your experiences with blessings in the comments. If you\u2019ve never done this with your kids, tell me know about how you plan to start.<\/p>\n

This post originally appeared on CatholicMom.com<\/a> as part of my Parents as First Educators <\/a>series.<\/em><\/p>\n

Photo Credit: Sree_<\/a> via Compfight<\/a> cc<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you give your children blessings? I was speaking to a group of parents recently and mentioned how I bless my kids with holy water every night. I got blank stares. \u201cDo you bless your kids holy water?\u201d I asked. Blank stares again. They\u2019d never heard of it. 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