As we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of the Lord I want to say a few words about the use of Holy Water in church and at home.
Even though the Church allows its use on any Sunday, most of you have only had the experience of the Holy Water sprinkling rite at Mass during the Easter Vigil and Easter Sunday Masses. But why this sprinkling? The simple answer is Baptism. When you and I were baptized we were baptized with water. This Holy Water reminds us of our Baptism, our birth into the paschal mysteries of Jesus Christ, his passion, death, and resurrection. But it not only reminds us of Baptism it also grants us protection from things which are not of Jesus. After water has been blessed by a priest it is no longer just plain water; it becomes a sacramental, a means through which God's grace is poured into our hearts. With faith, Holy Water safeguards our souls and draws us closer to all the sacraments, to life with God, to which Baptism opened us. Therefore I thought it particularly appropriate to make use of the sprinkling rite on this feast of the Baptism of the Lord.
Furthermore, the Church encourages people to make use of Holy Water at other times and places too. Above all, when entering into a Catholic church one ought to use Holy Water, while making and praying the Sign of the Cross. Also one ought to sprinkle oneself and one's house regularly. Parents and grandparents can sprinkle and bless their children or grandchildren. Anyone can sprinkle their room where they are staying or even hotel room (hotel rooms are particularly encouraged to be sprinkled as one never knows what took place in them).
Use Holy Water often! And refill your container again from the steel canister in back of the church next to the confessional in Killdeer, the glass jar above the basements steps in Halliday, and ask me for some anytime in Twin Buttes.