Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

As we reflect over the last couple of week’s homilies and the importance of daily prayer in our lives, we stop to reflect on what our “Amen” is truly expressing.  We hear and use this word in our prayers and in our liturgy and hopefully in our everyday lives.  It is more than just a word.

The Hebrew word, amen, means “surely, indeed, truly.” It derives from a root form, aman, which signifies “to be firm, steady, trustworthy, faithful” (again, the context can suggest which of these shades of meaning is most appropriate in a particular setting). (christiancourier.com)

 “The Creed, like the last book of the Bible, ends with the Hebrew word ‘Amen.’  This word frequently concludes prayers in the New Testament.  The Church today likewise ends her prayers with ‘Amen.’  In Hebrew, amen comes from the same root as the word ‘believe.’  This root expresses solidity, trustworthiness, faithfulness.  And so we can understand why ‘Amen’ may express both God’s faithfulness towards us and our trust in Him.” 

In the book of the prophet Isaiah, we find the expression “God of truth” (literally “God of the Amen”), that is, the God who is faithful to his promises: “He who blesses himself in the land shall bless himself by the God of truth [amen].  Our Lord often used the word “Amen”, sometimes repeated, to emphasize the trustworthiness of his teaching, his authority founded on God’s truth.

Thus the Creed’s final ‘Amen’ repeats and confirms its first words: ‘I believe.’  To believe is to say “Amen” to God’s words, promises and commandments; to entrust oneself completely to Him who is the ‘Amen’ of infinite love and perfect faithfulness.  The Christian’s everyday life will then be the ‘Amen’ to the ‘I believe’ of our baptismal profession of faith.”

Jesus Christ himself is the “Amen.”  He is the definitive “Amen” of the Father’s love for us.  He takes up and completes our “Amen” to the Father:  “For all the promises of God find their Yes in him.  That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God.  (CCC 1061-1065)

At the end of the Eucharistic Prayer we say the “Great Amen.”  “Through Him, and with Him, and in Him, O God, almighty Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is yours, for ever and ever. AMEN.  When we say “Amen” following Holy Communion, we are saying that “I believe” that what I am receiving is the Body and Blood of Christ. 

We often hear Jesus proclaiming in scripture “Amen, Amen I say to you…”  This double “Amen” exclaims “so be it.”  The word “Amen” is not just an ordinary word that ends our prayers and the last word in the Holy Bible.  It is a word that reaffirms what we believe. 

May God’s blessings be with you – Amen,

Fr. David