Michigan priest uses squirt gun to bless parishioners with holy water

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Lmab451 said:
So did he used to walk up to people and wipe the holy water on their head?? Every church or celebration that I’ve ever been to that included holy water, the priest was already distanced.
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My thoughts exactly.
 
It seems like a gimmick to me, a little too playful in my opinion. What’s next? A supersoaker? No thanks. Maybe that priest has a bad throwing arm, but usually the tried and true holy water pot and sprinkler works just fine.

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I’ve seen things like this done before and I find it funny (if a bit irritating) that stuff like this makes national news. It seems a bit gimmicky and undermines the sacredness of the rite. But honestly, in these times, there’s more important things to worry about. We all need a little bit of levity and I wouldn’t fault the priest for doing it (even if I would never do anything like that myself).
 
I agree the priest could have used an aspergillum or just a frond of palm or other plant, as they often do.

I suspect he was trying to cheer people up with his use of the squirt gun. And I assume he wouldn’t be using it during Mass.

No doubt some folks would object but I like to see priests being creative and fun.
 
I don’t particularly like it, and I don’t think it’s something my pastor would do, but I am sure this priest meant no irreverence or disrespect.
 
Perhaps he was thinking back to his childhood when squirting someone with a water pistol was playful and fun. Maybe not all that appropriate, but hey – what’s the harm? The holy water is no less holy.
 
CTBcin said:
But honestly, in these times, there’s more important things to worry about.
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This.

And I suspect that helot a lot of folks to think about what it all means and reflect . . .

Practicality is not a bad thing in a priest.

And a decent squirt gun has far better range than a aspergillum or a frond . . .

I’m reminded of polish parishes using a toilet tank float to cause water to be added to the Holy Water font while it will be less than half of the total volume, and thus all Holy Water.
 
No problem with the mask but agree that the squirt gun was a bit over top.

Might as well have used a pressure washer. A lot more symbolic, could stand at a greater distance, and wash bugs off the windshields at the same time. 😁
 
dochawk said:
I’m reminded of polish parishes using a toilet tank float to cause water to be added to the Holy Water font while it will be less than half of the total volume, and thus all Holy Water.
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😲 Get outta town! Really?
 
I don’t know. I’m pretty modern when it comes to Catholic church practices; e.g., I don’t mind praise and worship choruses in Mass, don’t mind people wearing jeans and sporting t-shirts, don’t mind young girls wearing short skirts (I’m a woman, BTW), don’t mind shorts, don’t mind piano and/or guitar, don’t mind “plain” churches with no statues or stained glass…you get the idea.

But I think a squirt gun at Mass in our city would have produce some very negative reactions, and even I would be a little put-off. You see, we have a lot of violent gun crime in our city–last week there were three fatal shootings in 3 separate incidents, and additional people were shot but not killed in these incidents (some are in the hospital and may eventually die of their injuries).

Same for Chicago–gun crime is rampant and the police are working so hard to try to stop it, but it seems so futile.

I’m not stupid–I realize that a squirt gun is not a gun, and I think that kids can have fun with toy guns–but considering how many people have been affected badly by gun crime, I think it would be somewhat crass and possibly even cruel to use a fake gun in the Mass and possibly trigger some very bad reactions from people who pee themselves a little or hit their heads on the ceiling every time a car backfires.

There are squirting devices that don’t look like guns–I could kind of see a priest using one of these devices. But why not use the Aspergillium? It’s cool! It looks just like the mold it’s named after! https://www.google.com/search?q=Asp...WOXM0KHZgfAiwQ_AUoAXoECBcQAw&biw=1280&bih=695
 
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