The 5th Sunday of Lent is historically known as “Passion Sunday” which ushers in the final two weeks of Lent, called “Passiontide.” Passiontide is characterized by a heightened celebration of Lent as Easter approaches, reaching its peak during Holy Week. During this period the faithful redouble their Lenten penances. It is also customary on this day to shroud all the sacred images in the churches with purple cloths, except the Stations of the Cross.
On Good Friday the crucifixes are unveiled, while the other sacred images are unveiled on the afternoon of Holy Saturday in preparation for the Easter Vigil. This imagery calls to mind how Christ hid his Divinity during his Passion and death, no longer performing miracles until his Resurrection from the dead. Likewise, the holy images are veiled in imitation of their Lord, their glory being unveiled with the joy of the celebration of Easter.
The Bible pays Joseph the highest compliment: he was a “just” man. The quality meant a lot more than faithfulness in paying debts.
When the Bible speaks of God “justifying” someone, it means that God, the all-holy or “righteous” one, so transforms a person that the individual shares somehow in God’s own holiness, and hence it is really “right” for God to love him or her. In other words, God is not playing games, acting as if we were lovable when we are not.
By saying Joseph was “just,” the Bible means that he was one who was completely open to all that God wanted to do for him. He became holy by opening himself totally to God.
The rest we can easily surmise. Think of the kind of love with which he wooed and won Mary, and the depth of the love they shared during their marriage.
It is no contradiction of Joseph’s manly holiness that he decided to divorce Mary when she was found to be with child. The important words of the Bible are that he planned to do this “quietly” because he was “a righteous man, yet unwilling to expose her to shame” (Matthew 1:19).
The just man was simply, joyfully, wholeheartedly obedient to God—in marrying Mary, in naming Jesus, in shepherding the precious pair to Egypt, in bringing them to Nazareth, in the undetermined number of years of quiet faith and courage.
Reflection
The Bible tells us nothing of Joseph in the years after the return to Nazareth except the incident of finding Jesus in the Temple (Luke 2:41–51). Perhaps this can be taken to mean that God wants us to realize that the holiest family was like every other family, that the circumstances of life for the holiest family were like those of every family, so that when Jesus’ mysterious nature began to appear, people couldn’t believe that he came from such humble beginnings: “Is he not the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother named Mary…?” (Matthew 13:55a). It was almost as indignant as “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46b).
Saint Joseph is the Patron Saint of:
Belgium Canada Carpenters China Fathers Happy death Peru Russia Social Justice Travelers Universal Church Vietnam Workers
What I love is that Psalm 139 takes us all the way back to when we first became. It reveres the beauty of our very beginnings and returns us to the miracle of our mothers. Even being carried within a womb, as each and every one of us was, God met us there. How many times have we heard, “You’re born alone and you die alone”? Psalm 139 dispels this, assuring us that even before our birth, when we were being woven, kneaded, and knitted, we had a holy spirit paralleling us. Could there be anything more comforting than this belief, that we had this connection to God way back, starting within the cocoon of our own creation?
The gift of the Holy Spirit must be accompanied by our free choice to follow His inspiration and guidance. If we do not choose to resist sin, the Spirit cannot help us, for He will not violate our freedom. However, if we make even a weak resolve to struggle against temptation and sin, the Holy Spirit can rush into us and fortify that weak resolve, giving us enough strength to resist the deadly sins with greater effectiveness.
— Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J. from his book Escape from Evil’s Darkness
From long experience I have learned that there is nothing like holy water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back again. They also flee from the Cross, but return; so holy water must have great virtue. For my own part, whenever I take it, my soul feels a particular and most notable consolation.
St. Teresa of Avila
St. Teresa’s words should remind us of the importance of holy water. Every Catholic knows—at least partially—how to use holy water: we dip our fingers in the font and bless ourselves as we enter the Church. Ideally, we are supposed to recall our baptism and our baptismal promises, including our renunciation of Satan and disdaining sin.
But we often forget this, and take holy water for granted most of the time. If we use it regularly, this is an easy trap to fall into. But we shouldn’t let ourselves remain numb to holy water’s efficacy.
Holy Water Is Powerful
We must remember that—through a priest—holy water is blessed by God in virtue of Christ’s baptism. The Catholic Church possesses enormous power in being able to impart sacramental grace—and holy water as a sacramental receives its power through the prayer and authority of the Church.
The rite of blessing that a priest says over to make it holy contains prayers of exorcism. It can banish demons, heal the sick, and send unwarranted grace upon us—yet most of the time we cross ourselves with this water without even thinking about how holy it really is.
The fact of the matter is that holy water is a powerful sacramental and we ought to use it daily. To prevent us from using it without thinking, we should consciously find ways to use it more. Holy water can be used to bless people, places, and things that are used by humans in their goal of glorifying God with their lives.
Here is a list of eight ways to use holy water in your everyday life:
1. Bless Yourself
This suggestion is obvious, but if we are only blessing ourselves with holy water on Sunday, then aren’t we missing out on the rest of the week? You can never have too much grace or blessing in your life. Use holy water daily. Keeping a holy water font in the home is a great idea so that you, your family, and guests can be blessed in the comings and goings from your home. Keep the font right by the front door to ensure you never leave home without it.
2. Bless Your House
If you haven’t taken the time to bless your house with holy water, then no time is better than the present. Your home is the domestic Church and is in need of spiritual protection. You can sprinkle holy water in your home yourself, or have a priest formally bless your home using holy water as part of the house blessing ceremony.
Holy water fonts are a great way to sanctify your home!
3. Bless Your Family
Use holy water to pray and make the Sign of the Cross over your spouse and children before they go to sleep at night. Bonding the family to each other and to God in this way is a great family tradition to adopt. Keep a holy water bottle by the bedside for this purpose.
4. Bless Your Work Space
If you work outside of the home, sprinkling your work space with holy water is a great idea, not only for spiritual protection on the work front, but also as to sanctify your daily work for the glory of God.
5. Bless Your Car
The car is probably the most dangerous place where you spend a significant amount of time each day. Never underestimate the power of holy water applied to your vehicle to keep you safe from harm’s way, when used in faith and trust in God. In fact, you can also have a priest bless your car with holy water.
6. Bless Your Garden
It was a common practice in the Middle Ages for people to sprinkle their vegetable gardens with holy water. In times when people were very dependent on crops for their livelihood, lack of rain or early frosts could be devastating. Using holy water to bless and sanctify the plants that would be used for the family’s sustenance showed their reliance on God’s grace.
St. Bernard’s Prayer for a Good Harvest
7. Bless the Sick
If you know of any sick friends or family, then blessing them with holy water probably counts as a corporeal and a spiritual work of mercy. If you visit the sick in a hospital or nursing home, bless their living space with holy water and leave a holy water bottle with them as a comfort in their time of need.
8. Bless Your Pets
Many parishes on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi have a rite of blessing for pets. Pets are loved companions for individuals and families and often provide a great service to them, and even these can be blessed with holy water because all creation has the end of giving glory to God. This also applies to livestock and farm animals that provide labor, livelihood, and nourishment to humans.
Praying with Holy Water
Here’s a simple prayer to say when using holy water, especially for when your blessing yourself with the Sign of the Cross:
“By this holy water and by Your Precious Blood, wash away all my sins, O Lord. Amen.”
This is just a suggestion, of course. There is no “correct” prayer to pray when using holy water, other than making the Sign of the Cross and saying the words aloud: “In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” You can also pray an Our Father or even the St. Michael Prayer when using holy water. Keep in mind that holy water has already been blessed by the prayers of the priest. Its power is based on the authority of the Church—and thus of Christ. You don’t need to add anything!
How Do You Use Holy Water?
Holy water is one of those beautiful gifts (and weapons) from God to keep us sanctified and holy in our daily lives and to keep the things we regularly use sanctified and holy. (Some parents even use holy water to bless things their children regularly use such as bicycles and school books.) If we stop and think about what a generous gift holy water is, we will use it more frequently, thoughtfully, and gratefully!
7- He summoned the Twelve* and began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over unclean spirits. 8 – He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick—no food, no sack, no money in their belts. 9 – They were, however, to wear sandals but not a second tunic. 10 – He said to them, “Wherever you enter a house, stay there until you leave from there. 11- Whatever place does not welcome you or listen to you, leave there and shake the dust off your feet in testimony against them.” 12 – So they went off and preached repentance. 13 – They drove out many demons, and they anointed with oil many who were sick and cured them.
When we bake a cake and closely follow the instructions in our recipe, the result is a delicious cake.
When we follow God’s instructions and do as we are told, the result is we become holy.
His instructions cover every area of our lives. But, it is hard to listen if we think we are too smart. God always keeps his word. But, we doubt how much he loves us, even though we hear it over and over again in Mass and at Confession. When we doubt His word, we are committing the sin of pride.
Our first parents, Adam and Eve, did NOT follow God’s instructions. God gave them one rule: Do not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. When they disobeyed God, they were kicked out of the Garden of Eden.We do not need to form a study group or a committee to do research about what God wants and how to be holy.
We do not need to recreate the wheel. The work has already been done. He left us precise instructions on how to be holy. We just need to follow them.
Will it always yield results? No.
But, do not be discouraged if you think your efforts are unsuccessful and not yielding results….just keep doing what God asks you to do…you are doing His Will and planting seeds.
So…show YOUR compassion
YOU visit the sick and the elderly
YOU help the homeless and the hungry
YOU get your hands dirty.
But…we must be holy first. People need to see Him in us. Remember…the only time your neighbor may see God is in your face. Mother Angelica once said: “I am a mirror to my neighbor, and in that mirror, he must see a reflection of Jesus. If that mirror is cloudy or distorted, Jesus’ reflection will be so vague it will hardly be seen.”
How will you apply this message to your life? Are you ready to get YOUR hands dirty?
Fr. Mike explains the events of today’s readings, breaking down Hushai’s advice to Absalom, David’s warning and charge of Solomon, and the theme of centralized worship. We all desire to be temples of the Holy Spirit, and we bring this prayer to God through today’s episode. Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 17, 1 Chronicles 22, and Psalm 36.
