The Two Words at the End of an Email
The beautiful meaning behind a simple habit I once found strange
The year before Mother Angelica passed away, I received a call that caught me off guard.
The request itself was simple, but it carried a lot of responsibility.
When the time came—whenever that would be—I was to drop everything, get on a plane, and photograph her funeral for EWTN. There would be no advance notice. No scheduling. No time to prepare. Just a phone call… and go.
I agreed.
In the months that followed, most of my communication was with the network’s art director, Liz Malcolm. Our emails were straightforward, logistics, expectations, a few details here and there.
But there was one small thing I began to notice.
Every message she sent ended the same way:
God Bless.
It stood out.
Not in a dramatic way. Not in a way that felt wrong. Just enough to make me pause.
I’d received emails from priests or religious before, of course. That felt expected. But this was different. It wasn’t occasional. It wasn’t formal.
It was… normal.
And I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it at first.
So as time went on and as I became more connected to the broader EWTN world I started to notice something else.
It wasn’t just Liz.
Others signed off the same way. Emails. Conversations. Phone calls. In passing.
God bless you.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world seemed to operate in a different language.
“Best.”
“Thanks.”
“Take care.”
“Cheers.”
All of them good. All of them carrying some version of goodwill. A polite closing thought. A gesture in the direction of kindness.
But also… a little vague.
“Best”… what, exactly?
“Take care”… how?
“Cheers”… to what?
Again, there’s nothing wrong with any of them. They’re human. Familiar. Easy.
But “God Bless” felt different.
And at the beginning, if I’m being totally honest, it made me just slightly uncomfortable.
There’s something about invoking God, especially in everyday exchanges, that can feel like a lot. Maybe too much. Maybe too personal. Maybe something reserved for certain moments, not something tucked casually at the bottom of an email.
At least that’s how it felt to me…then.
But over time, that small phrase kept returning. And eventually, I found myself thinking about it more seriously.
What are we actually saying when we end a conversation?
Most of our sign-offs are, in one way or another, a kind of well wish. A nod toward something good for the other person.
And that’s no small thing.
But “God Bless”… goes further.
It’s not vague or implied. It’s direct.
It names something. Or rather… Someone.
And slowly, almost without realizing it, my understanding of those two words began to change.
To say “God Bless” isn’t just to be polite. It isn’t just a pleasant way to close a message.
It’s a desire.
A real one.
It says: I want the highest good for you.
Not just success. Not just comfort. Not just a good day.
Something more.
Something deeper.
And in its simplest form, it’s also a prayer.
Even if it’s brief. Even if it’s almost unconscious.
God… please bless this person.
There’s something powerful about that.
Something generous.
Something that transforms even the smallest exchange into an act of charity.
And the more I’ve thought about it, the more those two words have stayed with me.
Not because they’re dramatic or they stand out, because they don’t.
They slip into conversation so easily. Two words at the end of a sentence. Easy to overlook. Easy to pass by without a second thought.
And yet…maybe not as small as they seem.
Because if those words are what they claim to be; a blessing… a prayer…a heartfelt desire for someone else’s good, then even something as ordinary as an email becomes something more.
Not just an exchange of information.
But, in its own quiet way… an opportunity to love.
God Bless,
Jeff
PS: And I mean that.
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You have my heartfelt thanks for your generosity and support, and please keep me in your prayers, and know of mine for each of you. God Bless, Jeff