Holy Water
- Gary Fritsch
- Apr 1
- 2 min read
In our first reading from Ezekial, we get this mystical vision of a miraculous stream that runs from the Temple and as it gets further away, it gets DEEPER and then turns salt water to fresh and waters plants and animals, and the fruit from these will serve as food and medicine. That's some stream, huh?
It's real. It exists. Right now. You can see it.
To understand, we first look at the Jewish tradition of living water. Living water was water that flowed naturally; in a stream, supplied by the rains. They used this water to supply flowing waters to the mikvah or ritual baths that were used to remove ritual impurity (touching blood or unclean animals). This living water also supplied the Temple. At the time of Passover, thousands of lambs were slaughtered in the Temple, and their blood ran through troughs and flowed out of the right side (east side) of the Temple. There were also channels of 'living water' that flowed through the Temple, and where these exited the Temple was the same place where the blood would flow. So, blood and water flowed from the side of the Temple.
In John's Gospel, Jesus tells the Pharisees that the sign He will give them of His authority is “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up.” So, Jesus Himself becomes the new Temple, not made my human hands. On the cross, from the right side, blood and water flowed. These form the basis of the sacraments - water for baptism, blood for Eucharist - which form the basis for the Church.
The Church is this stream that pours forth from Christ and the further away it gets (timewise) the larger it is. Since its inception, it has been a source of healing, feeding millions and its fruit saved millions of eternal lives. This Holy Water flows through us, through our baptism, and we remind ourselves every time we dip our hand into the Holy Water font. Will we bring this living water to anyone else?
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