3^rd SUNDAY OF LENT 11^th/12^th MARCH 2023

Dear Parishioners,

Today´s Gospel reminds me of a story called ‘The Land of the Wells’. The story describes how in that Land there lived a lot of wells of all sizes, shapes and colours. These wells had something in common, they all felt inside of them a big void and they worried all the time about how to fill that emptiness.

They strove to find all kind of things that would make them feel that their emptiness was gradually being filled; they would try and fill themselves with all kinds of stuff and possessions. But something strange would happen because the more they threw in, the emptier they felt. This made them feel so frustrated. But they only tried to distract themselves and not think about it too much.

One day one of the wells was sad and desperate because none of the things that he had filled himself made him happy, and so he started to remove everything that he had previously thrown down his well. He pulled out and pulled out a lot of things and discovered his interior, more and more.

This well was really surprised because against all expectations he was feeling really good and happy, better than he had ever felt before. But he became even more joyful, when having removed everything, he discovered inside himself a source of pure and clean water that just kept flowing out of him.

From this moment the well was happier than he had ever felt before and never stopped entering within inside him every day to find that source of pure water that flowed out of him filling his emptiness. After a while a beautiful orchard full of flowers grew up around him.

Then some of the other wells saw what was happening to their neighbour so they decided to do the same, and remove all the stuff they had filled themselves with and they too discovered the same source of pure water within themselves.

Today Jesus is saying to us exactly what he said to the Samaritan woman, “If you only knew what God is offering and who it is that is saying to you: Give me a drink, you would have been the one to ask, and he would have given you living water”. He is the source of living water, the source we can to find inside ourselves and discover true life.

Like those wells from the story, like the Samaritan woman in the Gospel, who was helped by Jesus, we just need to remove everything that hinders us to find the source of living water inside ourselves. If we connect with this source, if we drink from it, our life also will be like a beautiful orchard, where others can find peace, shelter, support; where they can to find God.

Have a blessed week,

Angelica Ramiro, FMVD