Oh, and the "Saginaw Blessing?" Buh-bye. Done very well, with the proper context of sound catechesis.
The Saginaw blessing:
The Saginaw blessing was started by Bishop Untener shortly after his arrival in late 1980. Everyone in the congregation raises both arms outstretched while saying the blessing.
May the Lord bless and keep you!
May he make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
And give you his peace.May the Lord bless and keep you!
May she make her face shine upon you and be gracious to you.
And give you her peace.
The female gender in second verse was Untener’s idea.
From Bishop Carlson’s instruction on this:
The sung blessing currently in use in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw employs in its first verse a paraphrase of the beautiful and traditional text from the Book of Numbers [*See Solemn Blessings #10, Ordinary Time I]. I encourage the use of this profound scriptural prayer. However, the second verse of the blessing as commonly sung does not maintain the necessary clarity regarding the naming of God which is part of our Jewish and Christian heritage and can therefore unintentionally bring about confusion or misdirection in our prayer. Therfore, the use of this second verse should be discontinued.
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