Pastor’s Letter: October 12, 2025

Pastor’s Letter: October 12, 2025

10 Oct 2025 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear. St. Philomena Parish Family,

Peace and blessing to you all this weekend! As you are reading this, I am traveling with my Dad and Mom to visit my brother and his family for a few days. Thanks to Fr. Daniel and Fr. Albert for covering everything while I am away! After our break last week for the Annual Pastor Update, I thought it might be nice to finish up our series on the Sacrament of Baptism with a review of the other places we encounter Holy Water—in the fonts as we enter the church…and every now and then as part of the Sprinkling Rite at Mass.

What is one of the first things we do when entering a Catholic church? Often without a thought, we reach down and dip our fingers in the water font and make the sign of the cross. Why do we have holy water near the entrance of the church? Msgr. Peter Elliott teaches, “the holy water stoups [fonts] at the doors of the church are signs which recall the baptismal washing of the faithful” (Ceremonies for the Modern Rite, no. 44).  In many traditional church layouts, the baptistry was located near the main door of the church. As the Sacrament of Baptism is our entrance into the life of God and the Christian Faith, the location of baptistries and fonts are symbolic and recall for us our entry into the life of the Church.

So, as we enter the church building, we use the Holy Water to recall our baptism, when we were baptized with blessed water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (sign of the cross).  When we were baptized, through Christ we entered into God’s family, the Church. Whenever we make our entrance into the place of the family celebration, the church building, we use the holy water to remind us of all the great gifts we have been given as members of God’s family, to recommit to living holy lives in fidelity to Christ, and to prepare ourselves for more fruitful participation in the Holy Mass.

What exactly is Holy Water? Holy Water is water blessed by a bishop, priest, or deacon and is among holy things that fall into the category called “sacramentals.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that sacramentals “are sacred signs which bear a resemblance to the sacraments” (CCC, no. 1667). These holy things or actions remind us of sacraments in some way and help us recall the graces of the sacraments.  They don’t contain the same graces as the sacraments, but they do remind us of those graces and help draw us deeper into a life of holiness.  For example, as we mentioned earlier holy water recalls our baptism.  Dipping our fingers into the holy water and making the sign of the cross over ourselves is different from when we were baptized, but intentionally using the blessed water in this way reminds us of the day we were brought into God’s family and that we are beloved children of the Father. Truly, using the holy water this way is a great preparation for our participation in the Holy Mass. As we prepare to join together with Christ in His perfect offering to the Father, that first gesture at the church door helps us to know that we belong and that we have been invited to take part in the sacrifice of Christ.

For a little bonus info…Have you ever noticed sometimes, during Penitential Act of the Mass, that the priest might walk around with Holy Water and the sprinkler? As the Instruction for the Missal says, “From time to time on Sundays, especially in Easter Time, instead of the customary Penitential Act, the blessing and sprinkling of water may take place as a reminder of Baptism” (GIRM, no. 51). Using an aspergillum (sometimes commonly called the sprinkler, typically a small reservoir with a sponge inside on the end of a handle) or perhaps even an evergreen branch, the priest will dip it into the Holy Water and then sprinkle the water over the people. Similarly to when we talked about using the Holy Water upon entering the church, this water recalls our baptism and the joy of being freed by Christ from sin. No wonder the priest is often so generous with the Holy Water during this part of the Mass! =)

Know of my prayers for everyone this week and that I send you all my blessing!

In Christ,
Father Luke