Why Do We Use Holy Water When Entering a Church?

Holy Water recalls the waters of the Sacrament of Baptism through which you entered the Church and became a member of the family of God by being 'born again of water and the Spirit'. When you enter a church and dip your finger in the font, you are invited to remember that you are a son or daughter of God; that you are part of His family and are called to a life of beauty, truth and goodness, rejoicing in the grace of the Holy Spirit. When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River, the Father spoke saying, 'This is My Son, with whom I am well pleased.' When we make use of holy water, we too are reminded that we are called to live lives pleasing to the Lord, not in servitude as a slave, but as children of a loving and merciful Father. Holy water reminds us that death does not have the last word. We die with Christ in order to rise with Him and that is exactly what happens in Baptism. We die to sin, to live in Christ. Water is life-giving - without water, no living thing or person can survive, therefore, holy water is also a reminder that without the grace of God, who gives us the true living water that will allow us to never thirst again, we cannot live. Through the waters of Baptism we are given new life that by the grace of the Holy Spirit we may one day enter into the joy of eternal life. "...whoever drinks the water I shall give will never thirst; the water I shall give will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." ~ John 4:14