FR Carl Mackander

Fr Carl Mackander is a priest at St Joseph's and St Mary's Catholic parishes in Orange.

"We are almost oblivious to water's importance to life because it is so common. Water evokes images of life, refreshment, cleansing and creation. God uses the very ordinary things about earth to communicate to us divine love and divine life. That's why the element of water is used."

Water is the element in Christian baptism going back to John the Baptist baptising Jesus in the River Jordan when Jesus began his public ministry. In our baptism ritual there is a blessing of the water that is going to be poured. The introduction to the blessing talks about water being the difference between life and death; the blessing itself talks about water cleansing.

We are almost oblivious to water's importance to life because it is so common. Water evokes images of life, refreshment, cleansing, and creation. God uses the very ordinary things about earth to communicate to us divine love and divine life. That's why the element of water is used.

As part of the Catholic Mass, the priest washes his hands to prepare for the most sacred part of the Mass, a symbol of washing away sin.

At Easter time we renew our baptismal promises and the priest sprinkles the people with holy water, reminding them of their life with the risen Christ through Christian baptism.

The Catholic Bishops of central NSW have issued a statement on the Murray-Darling Basin called 'The Gift of Water'. In it they call on all Australians to become involved in restoring the health of the river system because they see 'its life-giving waters as a precious gift of God'.