For a Threshold

a liturgical catechesis on blessing

John O’Donohue—a Celtic master of blessing—in his book To Bless the Space Between Us, talks about blessing being words for a threshold. Friends, in truth, every day is a threshold. But sometimes the thresholds are a little bit bigger.

This is one of them.

You stand at an end. And a beginning.

Blessings are threshold rituals meant to protect, to encourage, to challenge, to guide, and to sustain us through the journey of crossing a threshold.

And the thing is, thresholds often take a lot longer to cross than we think they will. The change comes in bits.

Last assignment turned in.
Applications are submitted.
A tassel dangles from your cap at graduation.
Your first day at your job.
Your diploma comes in the mail.
You have to learn names of coworkers and the people you serve.
The end of August comes, and you realize you’re not starting classes.

The change comes in bits, and sometimes unexpectedly.

And maybe for you, the end is the only clear part of this threshold.
Maybe you don’t know what beginning you’re stepping into yet.
That’s okay.

Today, we give you a blessing to protect, to encourage, to challenge, to guide, to sustain you as you go on the journey of crossing this threshold. We give you a blessing to remind you that you are not alone. Our hearts travel with you whatever you are stepping into next.

The ritual of blessing sees the current reality and pulls closer the reality we long for for you. It invokes the power of that Spirit already present and at work in the world and begs her to come a little closer.

In the act of blessing, we seek to say

“We see you. We know you
and we know the Spirit of Christ that lives in you.
Let us glimpse the future for a moment together.
Here is how we long for it to be.
May it be like this.
May you live into these things, these callings, these gifts.
May you be brought forward safely, and with courage and great joy.”

Our blessing goes with you.

Wherever this threshold takes you next.