In Life’s Dryness

March 8, 2026 – Third Sunday of Lent

Click here for the readings (https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/030826.cfm)

Common people from rural villages teach us a simple wisdom: “If and when the well runs dry, (don’t look for another wells) just dig deeper. (Kon ang atabay mahubsan, ayaw pangita og lain, palawomi lang : Pag ang balon natuyo, huwag humanap ng iba, hukayin lang ng mas malalim.) Simple practical words of wisdom that speak not only of how important water is to our life, but also offers us deeper meaning to our experience of thirst & dryness in life, in our love for others & even in our faith in God. 

In life we do indeed experience dryness. Like wellsprings “atabay”, there are moments in our lives that we feel dry and thirsty in life and in our relationships with God, others and even oneself. There are periods in our life that like the Israelites, we grumble before the Lord about our life-miseries, challenges, and problems, doubting His presence & wondering “Is the Lord really with us or not?” Yes, we do have moments of spiritual & personal dryness in our relationship with ourselves, others & God in life.

However, experiences of dryness in life and in our relationships with God & others could be an invitation and opportunity to go and be connected with God himself, the source of life. And so, in our experiences of life’s dryness and thirst, and God’s seeming absence, as the saying goes “If and when the well runs dry, (don’t look for another wells) just dig deeper. (Kon ang atabay mahubsan, ayaw pangita og laing, palawomi lang: Pag ang balon natuyo, huwag humanap na iba, hukayin lang ng mas malalim.)

Meaning, our experiences of thirst for God’s love and/or dryness in our life and relationships could also then be the opportunity not to search for another wellsprings, but  to dig our own wellspring deeper, which is, the right time and place to examine our life and relationship, be in touch with our realities and ideals, at the same time deepen our relationships and commitments. In other words, dryness in life are moments of encounters or meeting points where we can experience once anew for ourselves our relationship and commitment with others and with God deeply.

The gospel we have just heard is an account of the meeting of Jesus with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. This is one of the most touching encounters in the gospels which pictures God’s love and human conversion : a story of God reaching out to us and us reaching back to God through the person of Jesus.

At Jacob’s well, Jesus expressed God’s thirst for our faith and love for Him as well as offered us God’s life-giving or love-giving life. At Jacob’s well, the Samaritan woman became in touch with her own dryness and thirst, her need for God’s eternal life at the same time quenched her thirst in her encounter-meeting with Jesus. As she met Jesus at Jacob’s well, the Samaritan woman began to know and accept herself deeply (from being a Samaritan, descendant of Jacob, a divorcee to a believer) as well as she began to know and accept Jesus deeply (from a Jew, Sir, Prophet, Christ). At the Jacob’s well, Jesus recognized and satisfied the woman’s need for God’s love, and the woman recognized and fulfilled Jesus’ need for our faith & trust in Him.

Thus, in dryness and abundance of water, there may be a lot of positive things will happen at wellsprings of life. Usually at the wellsprings of our life we experience, renew, and deepen our life-commitments and relationships with one another and our faith in God through Jesus.

The season of Lent is also the wellspring moments of our Christian life. Amidst our spiritual dryness & seeming absence of God, Lenten season is the appropriate place and time to once again to encounter and experience God’s life-giving saving act through the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ.

So again, if and when the well runs dry, don’t look and no need to dig for another well, just dig your own wellspring deeper and be in touch and be quench once again with your original life-giving water.

We pray then that the Lord may grant us the grace to know Him deeply, love Him more dearly and follow Him closely during this another new Lenten Season of our Christian faith & life now & always.

So May It Be. Amen.