The Power of a Parent’s Blessing

By Leslie Bertucci

Ever since my children were young, I have made it a habit to bless them. I bless them while they lay in their beds at night, ready for sleep. I bless them in the car on the way to school. I bless them as they embark on a journey.

There is power in “a word fitly spoken.” Asking God to bless these precious souls he has put in my care is one of the most fitting uses of the power of speech that I can think of.

When I bless my children or my grandchildren or my husband, I always make physical contact, usually tracing the sign of the cross on their forehead with my thumb or laying my hand on their shoulder. 

For nighttime blessings, I adapt the words of Numbers 6:24-26, “May the Lord bless you and keep you, and make his face shine on you, and give you grace and peace all the days of your life.” 

On the ride to school, I ask the Holy Spirit to give my son his seven gifts of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, right judgment, piety, fortitude and wonder and awe. I also call on the Holy Spirit to give him the courage to “speak the truth in love and show the face of Christ to everyone he meets.”

I believe words have power, but the words that parents speak over their children are especially potent, as God has put us in a position of authority over our children. 

We are called to be the earthly witness of the love of our father in heaven. Also, children tend to imitate what they see their parents doing. 

I hope that the tradition of speaking a blessing will be carried on in our family for generations to come, until we receive the final blessing of seeing God face to face and are rejoicing eternally together as a family before the throne of our God who blesses us with every good thing.