Watched Mass on TV with my friend. Catholic priests bless the advent wreath at the beginning of advent. My Lutheran friend was very upset about this practice. She says that one can only bless people, not things.
We are not accustomed to having advent wreaths at home - typically, they are used only for the Advent liturgies in an ecclesiastical setting.
Catholicism is a sacramental faith and the blessing of inanimate objects is one form of 'sacramental' (distinguished in order of grace from
the seven sacraments).
We have always held that the physical is the vehicle for conveying God's grace, a notion which Protestants in the Reformed tradition (Baptists, Anabaptists, low-church Anglicans) have historically rejected out of hand.
Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy are exquisitely 'sensual' faith traditions: our church liturgies appeal to all five senses with Gregorian Chant for your ears, incense for your nose, holy water for your hands, the beauty of icons for your eyes - a physical manifestation of a hidden spiritual grace oriented towards the transcendent.
Every part of life can be imbued with sacred significance and 'reflects' God the Creator, not just persons. This is eminently biblical:
"Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will renounce the faith by paying attention to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons, through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. They forbid marriage and demand abstinence from foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, provided it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by God's word and by prayer" (1 Timothy 4:1-4)
Catechism of the Catholic Church - Sacramentals
1670 Sacramentals do not confer the grace of the Holy Spirit in the way that the sacraments do, but by the Church's prayer, they prepare us to receive grace and dispose us to cooperate with it. "For well-disposed members of the faithful, the liturgy of the sacraments and sacramentals sanctifies almost every event of their lives with the divine grace which flows from the Paschal mystery of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ. From this source all sacraments and sacramentals draw their power. There is scarcely any proper use of material things which cannot be thus directed toward the sanctification of men and the praise of God."176
1671 Among sacramentals blessings (of persons, meals, objects, and places) come first. Every blessing praises God and prays for his gifts. In Christ, Christians are blessed by God the Father "with every spiritual blessing."177 This is why the Church imparts blessings by invoking the name of Jesus, usually while making the holy sign of the cross of Christ.
1672 Certain blessings have a lasting importance because they consecrate persons to God, or reserve objects and places for liturgical use. Among those blessings which are intended for persons - not to be confused with sacramental ordination - are the blessing of the abbot or abbess of a monastery, the consecration of virgins and widows, the rite of religious profession and the blessing of certain ministries of the Church (readers, acolytes, catechists, etc.). The dedication or blessing of a church or an altar, the blessing of holy oils, vessels, and vestments, bells, etc., can be mentioned as examples of blessings that concern objects...
1674 Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful. The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church's sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals,180 etc.
