The Spirit, the Water and the Blood

THE SPIRIT, THE WATER AND THE BLOOD

These are symbols, the stuff of mysticism and iconography, more than literal, common sense concepts. As with a lot of other religious language, they attempt to create an imaginative construct for something that's unimaginable and to give words to something that's ineffable. And, like all good religious language, these words point to realities beneath common-sense conception.



"The Spirit", as defined in Scripture, refers to everything that's the opposite of jealousy, selfishness, greed, and deceit. As Paul defines it, "the spirit" is "charity, joy, peace, patience, goodness, long-suffering, fidelity, gentleness, and chastity." These realities make God present and testify to the existence of God in a way that few other things do. By their very nature too, they're realities that take us outside of ourselves and cannot be programmed for our own advantage. 



What is "the water"? Biblically it's an expression for sacrament, for the way God's ineffable presence can be given to us through certain concrete symbols; a water-bath, a sharing of bread and wine, an anointing with oil, a laying on of hands. It speaks of mystery, namely, that God is always beyond us, unimaginable in existence and presence, and yet so near that this presence is so overwhelming, simple, and direct that it's best grasped and related to through certain concrete physical things. Jesus did that during his time on earth. He was, and remains, the primary sacrament of God.

And finally, there's "the blood". This refers to self-sacrifice, the giving away of one's life for others to the point of giving one's own blood, and the carrying of tension (to the point of sweating blood) rather than violating or disrespecting the deep contours of life. Jesus' giving of his own life for others, so aptly symbolized by his sweating and shedding his blood, is the prime example of this.

(Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI)