Every man, woman, and child is comprised of a physical and spiritual component. Water is one of the few essential elements of God's creation that both our physical and spiritual components require in order to live. Man drinks it, bathes in it, travels up and down it, plays on it and in it, cleans his possessions with it, cooks with it, protects his property with it, and feeds his plants and animals with it. Water is precious and essential for man's physical health.

From the Book of Genesis through the Book of Revelation, the Bible reveals the critical role God's gift of water plays in salvation history. At the dawn of creation, God brought forth water. Then the Holy Spirit breathed on it that it might bring forth life. The water of the great flood destroyed sinful men, women, and their children and gave a small remnant of mankind (Noah, his wife, and their children) a new beginning. God called Moses to lead His chosen people, the Israelites, through the waters of the Red Sea and away from 400 years of slavery in Egypt. John the Baptist poured water from the Jordon River over the head of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and God the Father said, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." At the wedding at Cana in Galilee, our Blessed Mother Mary told her Son that the wine was running low. Our Lord told the servants to fill six large stone jars with water, and the Son of God worked His first recorded miracle by turning the water inside the jars into a most luscious wine. After Jesus died for our salvation, a centurion pierced His side with a spear and water flowed from Jesus as He hung upon the cross. Finally, in the last chapter of the Book of Revelation, an angel of God shows Saint John the Apostle the river of life giving water. It sparkles like crystal as it flows from the throne of God and the Lamb down the middle of the streets of the new Jerusalem.

At the end of Matthew's gospel, after Jesus has completed His earthly ministry and is about to ascend into heaven, He tells His eleven Apostles, "All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you." Water Baptism in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, is the normative way of cleansing Original Sin from the soul. The Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 1263) states, "By Baptism all sins are forgiven, original sin and all personal sins, as well as all punishment for sin." This same paragraph goes on to offer comforting and reassuring words: "In those who have been reborn nothing remains that would impede their entry into the Kingdom of God, neither Adam's sin, nor personal sin, nor the consequences of sin, the gravest of which is separation from God."

Water is also precious and essential for man's spiritual health. Without water, there is no Sacrament of Baptism. Without the Sacrament of Baptism, sin keeps God's sanctifying grace from our soul. Without God's sanctifying grace, our final destination is eternal death in hell. CCC 1266 reveals, "The Most Holy Trinity gives the baptized sanctifying grace, the grace of justification." Justification is God's action that frees us from sin and communicates to us the righteousness of Christ. Justification is the renewal of the interior man. Man's initial justification occurs through faith and baptism. The grace of justification enables us to believe in God, to hope in Him, and to love Him through faith, hope, and charity. The grace of justification gives us the ability to live and act as the Holy Spirit prompts us through His gifts of wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord (reverence for the Lord). The grace of justification allows us to grow in goodness through the moral virtues which are acquired by human effort. CCC 1804 says the moral virtues "are the fruit and seed of morally good acts; they dispose all the powers of the human being for communion with divine love."

At the end of Mark's gospel (Mk 16:15-16), Jesus tells His disciples, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. He who believes and is baptized will be saved, but he who does not believe will be condemned." The Bible clearly tells us that baptism, through the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, opens heaven's gates. Listen to Saint Peter (1 Pet 3:19-21a) reinforce the gospel, "It was in the spirit also that He went to preach to the spirits in prison. They had disobeyed as long ago as Noah's day, while God patiently waited until the Ark was built. At that time, a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you."

The Catechism (CCC 1213) clearly declares the value of baptism. "Holy Baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit, and the door which gives access to the other sacraments. Through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ, are incorporated into the Church and made sharers in her mission: 'Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration through water and in the word.'" The Catechism (1216) calls baptism God's most beautiful and magnificent gift.

We must remember, though, that while the gates of heaven have been opened to the baptized, there is no guarantee they will remain open to every baptized man and woman. Throughout the rest of our lives we must nurture our faith in Jesus, strive to avoid sin, repent of those sins we fail to avoid, and partake of the other sacraments.

For infants, children, and non-Christians who die before they come to accept Jesus Christ and His Sacraments, the Church can only trust their soul to the mercy of God. Do you know someone who die without being baptized? Then let this last sentence in paragraph 1257 of the Catechism offer you hope, "God has bound salvation to the Sacrament of Baptism, but He Himself is not bound by His sacraments."

For more insight read CCC paragraphs 527, 774, 782, 977-78, 985, 1213-28, 1234-43, 1246, 1250-52, 1257-61, 1263, 1265-66, 1276, 1279a, 1280-84, 1804. Also, pull out your "Catholic" Bible and reference Ezek 36:24-28; Mt 28:18-20; Jn 3:1-6, 22; Acts 2:37-39; Rom 6:1-11; 1 Cor 6:11; 10:1-2; Tit 3:4-7; Heb 10:19-22; 1 Pet 3:19-21a.