Gift or $ for Father when he comes to bless our home?

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Gwyn

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We are moving next month (within the parish) and will be arranging to get a priest to bless our new home.
What is appropriate - a gift or money and how much?
Thanks in advance.

The last time we got our current home blessed (9years ago), a retired priest came and we gave him a bottle of wine. This time I really do not know what to do… we have 2 young priests.
 
A bottle of wine is a great gift! Or what about asking him out to dinner or inviting him over to your house for dinner? A nice meal with a family is sometimes a luxury for a priest!
 
We offered our priest $40 because that is what we had in cash. I think it was pretty reasonable. Although he did not bother to actually take it or look at it and instead asked that we put it towards our offerings at Mass. So that is what we did.
 
I would think a good home cooked meal would be a nice idea. Call the Parish Secretary, they will be able to let you know about any food allergies or dietary restrictions.
 
We had our priest and a visiting seminarian over to dinner before the house blessing. They both loved it!

Kathy
 
We put $25 in cash and a $20 gift card to Bob Evans (our priest loves Bob Evans) in a card for him. We felt that was reasonable. I also think it is better just to put it in a card rather than hand it to him.
 
Em_in_FL said:
A bottle of wine is a great gift! Or what about asking him out to dinner or inviting him over to your house for dinner? A nice meal with a family is sometimes a luxury for a priest!
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I can name 10 priest off the top of my head who are alcoholics or recovering alcoholics. I wouldn’t give wine.

The priests I know like cash, any amount. I’ve see every amount. A nice thank you card with a note about how nice it was for him to take the time to visit is always appreciated.
 
I’d also not give a bottle of wine unless you know your Priest well and know he has a love for wine, what he likes, etc.
 
One more thing. While he is there blessing your house, you might also want to ask him to bless your vehicles. If you haven’t had them blessed.
Now I will tell you that every priest we have asked to bless our vehicles (we only ask when we buy them) gives us a weird look, although they snap out of it pretty well. We have never had an accident is a blessed vehicle 😃
 
I think a home-cooked meal is a fabulous idea. I would also get him a gift certificate to a favorite restraunt or book store or something like that. Another nice idea might be a donation to a favorite charity in his honor or name – maybe something that’s near and dear to his heart.
 
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