Thursday, November 13, 2025: Water is essential for life on Earth and in the “kin-dom” of God. 

These first two paragraphs in blue are prepared by an Ojibway woman, Sister Priscilla Solomon CSJ, for the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace and KAIROS.

All the oceans of this precious planetary jewel we call our home are one. They greet each other in countless places, sharing their waters and releasing them. Waters once called Atlantic are sooner or later Pacific, or Arctic. Waters once swirling around our northern lands will, or have, graced the shores of India and Antarctica. The sacred gift that we call water journeys through stream and river, sky and earth to find communion with itself in other waters. In its search for union and oneness, it calls to the human community to also seek communion. 

Always, water is sacred gift, with the sacred trust given to it by the Creator to bring life, healing, and transformation. These are water's instructions from the Creator. Beautiful and powerful, ever ancient yet ever new, it relies upon us to care for and protect it, enabling it to carry out the Creator's instructions. Everything is in some way sacramental. All depends on the receptiveness and openness of our hearts.

For the past few days I’ve been reflecting on the unique nature of water. Ed mentioned that water is the only molecule that enlarges as it freezes. Molecules of frozen water form a lattice crystal which is more spacious than liquid water. An amazing fact that, as Steve pointed out, is bad for bottles of beer forgotten in a freezer. Here’s the water ritual from Steve and Pat’s celebration last Sunday followed by a reflection by Richard Rohr of water as sacrament:

1: “We give thanks to the Oceans where all life began, where all plants were spawned and have migrated to land and spread over the entire planet, eating light from the sun to produce an oxygen rich environment and glucose for energy to grow and reproduce.” 

All: For this miracle we are truly grateful. 

2: “We give thanks for the rains that moisten the land and decreases the risk of devastating fires. The hydraulic cycle moves moisture from the seas to the air to the land and back to the seas again. 

All: For this miracle we are truly grateful. 

3: “We give thanks for the Glaciers, Lakes, Creeks, Streams, and Rivers that feed the aquifers, provide home to fish and water creatures, and creates and moves soil to create deltas and rich farmland. 

All: For this miracle we are truly grateful. 

4: We give thanks for the water that circulates within our bodies, in the form of tears, lymph, bile, urine and blood. We truly are temples of God. 

All: For this miracle we are truly grateful. 

Father Richard writes:

My sense, after being a priest for over fifty years, is that we would have done much better to help Christians discover their souls instead of “save” them. Discovery of the soul seems to be dormant or disconnected in so many of our brothers and sisters. They aren't aware of the inherent truth, goodness, and beauty shining through everything.  

I think of soul as anything’s ultimate meaning, which is held within. Soul is the blueprint inside of every living thing that tells it what it is and what it can become. When we meet anything at that level, we will respect, protect, and love it. Sadly, many human beings haven’t found their own blueprint or soul, so they cannot see it anywhere else.  

Such connection and presence is as freely available as the air we breathe and the water we drink. This is surely why John the Baptist moved his initiation rite out of the temple, away from the priestly purity codes (of which he was well aware), and down by the riverside in the wilderness. Jesus “submitted” to this off-beat ritual, which we now call baptism. Yet now baptismal ceremonies are most often held in church buildings, usually disconnected from anything natural except the water itself.

Theologian Grace Ji-Sun Kim describes how water, used in the sacrament of baptism, connects us to God and all life:  

Christians have a spiritual relationship with water. In the sacrament of baptism, water is necessary. As an outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual grace, baptism marks how one becomes part of the family of God….  

Baptismal actions show a deeper understanding of the Divine and how the Spirit connects with us in each and every day through water all around us and how Spirit uses the waters of baptism to weave our whole selves into God’s own life, in gracious love and mercy. Baptism reminds us of water’s vitality for our world and teaches us to seek its lifegiving, cleansing, and refreshing gift. Water is essential for life on Earth and in the “kin-dom” of God…. 

The sacrament of baptism becomes a symbol that all water is sacred, not just the water present in the baptismal font. Because it is sacred, we need to honor water, take care of water, and treat it with holiness, reverence, and love. Through the baptismal waters we begin a faith journey that awakens us to the beauty of Earth and all of God’s creation. We learn that we human beings belong to a community connected to one another through water. We are all made of water and sustained by water. The waters of baptism run through the creeks, rivers, lakes, and oceans of the world, providing life to all living things. Baptism connects Christians to all living things in water’s cleansing flows.