THE BIBLICAL FOUNDATION OF HOLY WATER by Rev. Fr. Abe Arganiosa, CRS

Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithful with the Holy Water as Moses and Aaron did.

Anonymous said...

Father Abe,

Good pm po,itatanong ko lang po kung ano ang ibig sabihin at kung ano ang sinisimbulo ng kandila,ng tubig,ng tinapay,ng alak at ng bibliya sa misa?Meron po bang isang larawan lamang o icon na tumutukoy sa lahat ng ito,kung meron po,saan ko ito pwedeng makita?THANK YOU PO AND MORE POWER?

September 4, 2010 11:00 PM

Fr. Abe, CRS said...

II. THE HOLY WATER

The presence of Water in the Temple of God and for religious purpose is very clear in the Bible. That is the reason why it is mind boggling why the enemies of the Catholic Faith failed to read and understand this thing from the Sacred Scriptures.

1. Water is the first element touched by the Spirit of God in Creation

Genesis 1:1-2 "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And THE SPIRIT OF GOD MOVED UPON THE FACE OF THE WATERS."

Because of that blessing from the Holy Spirit it is water that gives life in the world. The places with water is beaming with life while those with little water is parched, deserted and barren.

2. The Blessing of Bread and Water in the Sinai Covenant Rituals

Exodus 23:25 "And ye shall serve the LORD your God, and he shall BLESS thy BREAD, and thy WATER; and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee."

This is the reason why we bless our Bread. In the family it is the Father of the Family that blesses the food and in the Temple the priest is the one blessing the Bread.

The priest is also Blessing the Water because he is the Minister of God [cf. Exodus 28:1 KJV].

3. The HOLY WATER in Earthen Vessel

Numbers 5:17 "And the PRIEST shall take HOLY WATER in an earthen vessel..."

Thus, in our Churches we usually keep the Holy Water for Baptism and Blessing of People in a large Earthen Vessel ["Banga" in Filipino] or for the richer places even in Bronze, Silver or Golden containter.

See, WORD FOR WORD, DIRECTLY, CATEGORICALLY... THERE IS HOLY WATER IN THE BIBLE.

4. The People were being Sprinkled by the Holy Water for Purification

Numbers 8:6-7 "Take the Levites from among the children of Israel, and cleanse them. And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them... so make themselves clean."

Actually v. 7 states that they should be shaved and cleaned thoroughly including the clothes. There is no need for us to do that because as Jesus said to Peter during the washing of the feet "there is no need of the bath the one who is clean already" [cf. John 13:10]. And so as the feet was enough for the Lord Jesus during the Washing of the Feet the sprinkling is enough for those who have been born in Water and in Spirit in Baptism. [cf. John 3:15]

That sprinkling is not only for the priests as mentioned in the Book of Numbers. It is also for all the believers of God:

Ezekiel 36:25 "Then will I SPRINKLE clean WATER upon you, and ye shall be CLEAN: from all your FILTHINESS, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you."

First, there will be SPRINKLING OF WATER in the future. What is that future? THE REIGN OF THE MESSIAH. And that water can make the believers of God clean. Primarily it refers to Baptism and secondarily to the rite of Sprinkling of Water in the Catholic Church. That is why when we are burdened with uncleanness we are askiing for the blessing of the Holy Water from our priests.

Actually the Rite of Sprinkling is very very old practive among the believers of God and it is a cherished sacramental:

Numbers 19:13 "Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the WATER of separation was not SPRINKLED upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him."

Numbers 19:17 "And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running WATER shall be put thereto in a vessel..."

Numbers 19:18 "And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave..."

Numbers 19:19 "And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even."

5. The Prophet Elisha as a Man of God blessed the water with Salt and made it a powerful instrument of Life over Death.

2 Kings 2:19-21 "And the men of the city said unto Elisha, Behold, I pray thee, the situation of this city is pleasant, as my lord seeth: but the water is naught, and the ground barren. And he said, Bring me a new cruse, and put salt therein. And they brought it to him. And he went forth unto the spring of the waters, and cast the salt in there, and said, Thus saith the LORD, I have healed these waters; there shall not be from thence any more death or barren land."

This is exactly what our Bishops and Priests are doing in Blessing the Holy Water. The Priest blesses the Salt and the Water in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit so that it becomes a reminder of our Baptism and a powerful instrument against diabolical presence. In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity he exorcises the water and the salt and mixed them together. It is now then a Holy Water, a Blessed Water, an Exorcise Water against the evil spirits.

6. Water is the Symbol of Baptism by which God saved through Water.

1 Peter 3:20 "These were the spirits of those who had not obeyed God when he waited patiently during the days that Noah was building his boat. The few people in the boat---eight in all---were SAVED BY THE WATER, which was a SYMBOL POINTING TO BAPTISM, which now saves you. It is not the washing off of bodily dirt, but the promise made to God from a good conscience. It saves you through the resurrection of Jesus Christ"

St. Peter speaks of Baptism as prefigured by the Great Flood during the time of Noah. The water of the Flood purified the world from the sinfulness of men.

7. The Holy Water reminds us that Jesus is the Water of Life and that the Water that He gives is the Holy Spirit.

John 4:13-14 "Jesus answered, "Those who drink this water will get thirsty again, but those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give them will become in them a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life."

THE PRESENCE OF WATER IN THE BIBLE FROM GENESIS TO REVELATION IS VERY CLEAR NOT ONLY FOR PRACTICAL PURPOSE SUCH AS DRINKING AND WASHING. IT HAS RELIGIOUS SIGNIFICATION. IT WAS USED FOR RITUALS AND RELIGIOUS WORSHIP OF GOD. IT WAS ALSO USED BY PROPHETS TO PURIFY NOT ONLY MATERIAL IMPURITIES BUT EVEN SPIRITUAL ONES.

Water were used religiously for cleansing, purifying and healing as in the water of Siloam:

John 9:7 "And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing."

The Temple has a large Bronze container of large water:

1 Kings 7:23 "And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it round about."

AND THUS, THE BOOK OF REVELATION ENDED WITH WATER FLOWING FROM THE VERY THRONE OF GOD. IT SYMBOLIZES THE GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, THE GRACES AND THE VIRTUES BEING GIVEN TO THE FAITHFUL OF GOD:

Revelation 22:1 "And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb."

The image of water shows the presence and the triumph of God in Heaven. The Temple has a large basin of Water to manifest the presence of God on Israel. The priests blesses and sprinkles Holy Water to show the power and victory of God against sin and impurities and we have Holy Water in our Churches to manifest that the Church is the presence of God not only on Israel but on the whole human race... At the end God shall be all in all [cf. 1 Corinthians 15:27-28]... He purifies us by His grace through the water that He blessed proclaiming the Victory of the Messiah over impurities, Uncleanness and the Malevolent Spirits.

September 5, 2010 10:06 PM