Spiritual dryness. The pandemic has made many of us dry inside. Just last week, my family and I went to Mass and physically accepted the Eucharist for just the third time in more than a year. The graces that the single act provided for my family were notable- both my wife and I are still in awe of just how much going to Mass has freed us from a plaguing aridity in our souls.

For months, my spirit was numb. It wasn’t until I went to confession recently that I realized just how lifeless I truly was. I found myself confessing sins I didn’t normally commit because, frankly, I didn’t care. I didn’t see a benefit to prayer. I didn’t see the point in spiritual reading, contemplation, not even simple acts of charity. Life felt meaningless. 

Father, in his sage wisdom, told me that I was in a “Lenten desert,” but the problem was that we were in the Easter season, no deserts allowed! We laughed, and he went on to say that sometimes, our spiritual state doesn’t align with the liturgical calendar. When that happens, we need to cleanse ourselves with the life-giving water of Christ in the Sacraments.

Here’s thing, we need to turn on the faucet. 

It’s like taking a shower: God’s grace is waiting in the pipes of our lives. At times, the pressure is so strong that the pipes leak and pour grace upon us regardless of our intentions (or lackthereof). Other times, we intentionally remove our worldly clothes and step into the stall, naked in his sight. We pull the curtain behind us, protecting us from the worldly allurements, then we turn the knob and let the water flow. 

The Sacraments, then, act like  the little hooks that keep our shower curtains from falling when the water hits our heads allowing all of God’s graces to fall upon us, cleansing us from the lesser beings we would become without Him. 

Covid has forced us to live our lives in ways that have proven to be… difficult. We’ve suffered financially. We’ve suffered loneliness. And, perhaps most importantly, we’ve suffered spiritually by not being able to participate fully in the Sacraments and the graces that come with them.

If you are feeling spiritually dry, frequent the sacraments as best as you are able. Let their celestial water purify your soul as they sustain the curtain between who you are, and who you could be without God’s grace.

Get wet.