The Spraying of Holy Water

Father Julius was criticized by the media and by the jungle when he sprayed holy water on the people from a spray bottle during All Souls' Day.  According to the jungle:

Hey, don't blame him. 

He is the product of Kiko's theology (see "Kiko and Purgatory") and Apuron's (fake) seminary.

Correction for the jungle:  Father Julius is a product of the Catholic Church and the Redemptoris Mater Seminary accredited by the Pontifical Laterian University (also known as the "Pope's University').  There were 410 comments posted on the KUAM facebook regarding the issue of Father Julius using a spray bottle.  You have heard the side of the media and the jungle.  Below are some of the comments posted on KUAM Facebook regarding the issue.  The comments are printed in red.  This is now the other side of the story and from the majority of the comments: 

Tania Stotts-Cruz Love this! 😁 How innovative and efficient this priest is. Looks like he did this will only good intentions. Blessings all around!

F Glenn Lujan See I don't know why people are all up in arms! Really there other issues we need to address! Pick and choose your battles people! You've got to have some sense of humor!

Marinalyn Hale My family and I are very strong Parishioner at the San Dimas Church in Malesso and the priest in this video is our priest Father Julius. For those who are not from Merizo and do not attend our regular church services or San Dimas functions I am proud to say that not only is Father Julius a very respectful man but he is interactive with the community, he is generous with his time, he is gracious with involving our youth during mass services as well as being a great role model and teacher for them. He has a wonderful and welcoming attitude. Bringing a new found joy in our sermons and prayer services. There was nothing intentionally disrespectful about him blessing our loved ones whom have gone before us and family member who attended the 7a.m. All Souls day mass. Typically we have an extra priest or Deacon who would assist during the blessing however this year he was alone so not only were many appreciative of his concern of time due to the morning heat but as he had done many times before he brought joy and laughter and high spirits to the people of Merizo.Your opinions are your own but as a patron of the San Dimas church I applaud him for again being an amazing priest who spreads joy and love, teaches faith and honesty and spreads the word of god with a genuine heart everyday.

Jeffrey Arnold KUAM reporter should have reported on the significant of the Day. Many of us, Catholics, visit the graves of our loved ones once a year to pray and to clean the areas. It’s our culture shared through out the world. KUAM decided to look for something negative to attack the Catholic Church. I am very disappointed!

Maureen Lujan The Church has made many changes in the way holy water is dispensed. As long as the church community is fine with the manner in which it is dispensed, I think it’s ok.

JoLisa Aguon I wouldn't mind what the priest use and how he sends that holy water to me. As long as I feel the holy water on me, I get goosebumps and feel blessed.

Carmelita Cruz Champaco What was the person’s intention when posting this video? Was it negative or positive? It surely was a positive image to me and all the patrons attending I’ve talked to that day. I don’t care how the holy water was discharged. As a person who actually FELT that holy water landing on me and on my parents’ grave, was such a blessed joy beyond explanation. Please take all negative attitude elsewhere. There’s nothing more than good intentions by our great priest, Father Julius. The spray method should be a great idea for future All Souls Day holy water blessings. It’s easier on the priest’s wrist and quadruple the number of people blessed with one spray. God bless you father.

Diana Quinata Can't believe this is newsworthy. If you don't know him personally, he's such an awesome priest. #teamfatherJulius

Scott Anderson Father Julius is awesome! 😁👍🏼 

Antoine Tajalle Archbishop Byrnes says “he’ll use the TRADITIONAL means of sprinkling holy water on future occasions “ ......notice the archbishop didn’t say that Father Julius will use the CORRECT means....maybe because the church has adopted different methods. His actions were well intended

Gladys Lara I’m not from the village of Merizo or Umatac but I’ve had the opportunity to attend several masses down there and Father Julius is AMAZING! I see him around the community during functions and he really relates to the older and most especially the younger generation.
He is well respected and loved and you can see it in a full church and his interaction with the people!Blessings to Father Julius and to the community of Umatac & Merizo.

Lunetta Tainatongo Right after this those that attended the mass at merizo were even more blessed by the Almighty Himself from above. Knowing this priest had to be at Umatac right after I would agree right along with him. I was there myself anew found it to be of NO HARM DONE he also mention before hand that... Now I'm going around to bless you loved ones ands you also now is a good time to talk with them with what bit of time he had before heading out to another mass at Umatac. Honestly everyone should get a grip!

Jonathan Wallis I know it seems unorthodox but he needs to make sure all gets blessed by the holy oils/waters. If you guys only knew that these waters and oils only get blessed once a year. And are limited. I know I had to stand for hours to get the holy oils for every sacrament blessed for onlyOne church once a year

Larrisha Ann Cruz There will always be negative comments. I promise. It’s the human way called judgment. I’m sure his intentions are pure and not meant to offend anyone! I’ve attended a mass that Fr. Julius presided and he can speak, pray and lead his people in Chamorro! Imagine. Someone from another part of the world who comes to Guam to study and follow Jesus’ calling. A call that many of us aren’t brave enough to answer. Just saying, agree with me or not, he is still human and so are we.

Shina Marmar The church "traditions" as we know now have been changed in different ways over the centuries.

Whereas the decedents of the ones who were in the desert used to celebrate in their homes, buildings had to be built after Emperor Constantine wanted to join in the celebrations and thus so did the rest of the people who wanted to remain in his favor.

No one home could host that many.
Unleavened bread for hosts became wafers; easy to store, longer life time, and comes in great quantity. Ain't the wafer idea creative? 

Marlena Alo Oh my! Should not have been taken to another level. The purpose was for him to give the blessing and people to receive it. Being that he is the distributor of the blessing and there was no intent to hurt anyone, why take it to a level of "hating"? Leave the judgment to the Lord alone. Go to the the confession box and ask for forgiveness. And find something positive for yourself

Jenali Enaligo How is this newsworthy? He found an efficient way to get through the large amount of people and not to mention in good timing too because not too long after mass had ended it started to rain. Not everyone is gonna agree with what Father Julius did BUT he is a great priest and a great person. He's taken the time to learn chamorro and to make sure we are comfortable as possible. You people need to understand that he takes care of 2 parishes! As soon as mass ended he couldn't even eat because he had to go to the next mass. He managed to get us and our loved ones with a full blessing and that's all that matters.
Thank you Father Julius

Len Sullivan Such minor matter and people make a hige fuss about it. He probably decided to donthis cause people were complaining that doing it the old fashion way only gets a small amount of an area, but with the spray bottle he is able to get a wider area and more people. Great idea, Father. More power to you.

Cing Lan Does it really matter where the holly water comes out off?

As I said, there were 410 comments made, and the vast majority of the comments were very positive toward Father Julius.  Many of the people who were present at the cemeteries where Father Julius sprayed the holy water had nothing but positive comments.  I would not be surprised to learn if the ones who complained were the ones who were not there.  They complained like the Pharisees who were more concerned with the letter of the law and of their man-made traditions.  Father Julius did not have any ill-intentions. His intention was to give the holy water to as many people as he can.  His thoughts were on blessing as many people as he can reach. The negative publication came from the media and Junglewatch.  

Jesus warned us about the Pharisees who were more concerned with the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law and of their man-made traditions. Let us remember the words of our Holy Father, Pope Francis.  According to the Catholic Herald:

The true defenders of doctrine are not those who uphold its letter, but spirit, Pope Francis has told the synod fathers in his closing address. 

Speaking at the end of the three-week family synod, the Pope said: “The synod experience … made us better realise that the true defenders of doctrine are not those who uphold its letter, but its spirit; not ideas but people; not formulae but the gratuitousness of God’s love and forgiveness.