After he placed his hands on them

os 24,14-29; Ps 15; Mt 19, 13-15
17 AUGUST

Imposing hands is a true transmission of blessing. Jesus is the Blessed Fruit of the Father and He comes into the world so that in Him and for Him every people, language and nation is blessed by God, return to their very pure truth of creation, to which the other very high truth of the participation of the divine nature we must add. Blessing in Jesus becomes being recomposed, restored, healed, elevated and sanctified. For the blessing, man frees himself from all falsehood and lies of sins and returns to his true essence.

The Lord said to Abram: “Go forth from the land of your kinsfolk and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. All the communities of the earth shall find blessing in you” (Gen 12,1-3). Again the Lord’s messenger called to Abraham from heaven and said: “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you acted as you did in not withholding from me your beloved son, I will bless you abundantly and make your descendants as countless as the stars of the sky and the sands of the seashore; your descendants shall take possession of the gates of their enemies, and in your descendants all the nations of the earth shall find blessing – all this because you obeyed my command” (Gen 22,15-18).

The Lord spoke to Moses and said, “Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, “So you will bless the Israelites: you will say to them: “May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine for you and give you grace. May the Lord address his face to you and grant you peace”. So they will put my name on the Israelites and I will bless them” (Dt 6,22-27).

By laying down hands, Jesus gives his blessing. It is as if he were transmitting “part of himself”. The greater the holiness, the more powerful is love, the richer the grace, the more immediate and prompt obedience is, the more it is transmitted in the blessing. It is not a magical ritual, but a true “transmission of one’s own being”. After creation, when God blessed the man and the woman, he communicated to them part of his creative and generating omnipotence. If the man and the woman conceive it is not by nature, but by blessing. It is a grace that the Lord has granted them. They have been blessed.

Then children were brought to him that he might lay his hands on them and pray. The disciples rebuked them, but Jesus said, “Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” After he placed his hands on them, he went away.

Jesus must also bless the children, for they too are children of Abraham, sons of Adam. He must bless them because He is the descent of Abraham. This truth is announced with great solemnity by the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Galatians.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. It does not say, “And to descendants,” as referring to many, but as referring to one, “And to your descendant,” who is Christ. Before faith came, we were held in custody under law, confined for the faith that was to be revealed. Consequently, the law was our disciplinarian for Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a disciplinarian. For through faith you are all children of God in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free person, there is not male and female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendant, heirs according to the promise (Cf. Gal 3,15-29).

If Jesus is the descendant of Abraham, if all the nations of the earth are to be blessed in him, if the Word of Scripture cannot be annulled, why is Christ today kept hidden from peoples and nations? Why is it taught to them that their ways are ways of true salvation and redemption? Is this not an attestation that we too walk on a parallel path, but in the opposite direction to the Gospel and to the whole Scripture? Between what the Holy Spirit says and what we say there is total contrast.

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