Even though most Catholics don't often talk about "blessing God," it is a strong prayer tradition from Scripture. Here's what Dr. Thomas Casey, biblical scholar and lecturer for the Biblical School, has to say about this tradition:
"The Old Testament is filled with examples of prayers blessing God.... The best known example is probably Psalm 103:
"Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all my being bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits;
He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills."
But blessing God is not like blessing our food or our rosary beads. To bless the Lord means to praise him and extol his greatness, usually by recounting and proclaiming his great deeds, his deeds in creation and redemption. But in praising him for his great deeds, it would be ungrateful not to thank him at the same time. So blessing God then means to praise him, but also to thank him at the same time for all that he has done for us. The two go hand in hand.
We seem to have lost the notion of what a prayer of blessing is, as well as the distinction between the prayer of praise and thanksgiving and the prayer of petition. For example, our grace before meals is not a prayer of blessing, but a prayer of petition asking God to bless us, instead of our blessing God and thanking him for all his gifts to us."
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| "And David said to all the congregation, Now bless the LORD your God. And all the congregation blessed the LORD God of their fathers." 1 Chr 29 |
