Our Ministry

What does “Wellspring” have to do with a Center for Spirituality? Why “Wellspring”? What does “Wellspring” mean? These are questions that have often been asked since the opening of Wellspring. I hope that the following insights will help our readers and well-wishers.

WELLSPRING is a name chosen to symbolize the most basic vision of our Center for Spirituality. The choice was based on a core belief that there is, deep within every person, at the core of being, a “wellspring” – a spring that wells up – a source of life, of energy, of spirit, that never dries and that yields more, the more it is tapped. A life experience might help understand the idea better.

When I opened a similar Center in India about twenty years ago, the first thing I did was to find a source of water. We needed the water for construction of necessary buildings, for cultivation, development and maintenance of a five acre farm and for the needs of our community. Water was found – a spring – at the depth of two hundred and fifteen feet. The source was not adequate for our purpose. Within a few months use, the spring began to grow and yield more than expected. It began to yield sufficient water to maintain the farm and take care of the needs of a twenty five member community. This is the spring deep within the earth.

Similarly, God has gifted each of us with a “spring” deep within us – a “wellspring “ of goodness, life and love. The more we draw from it the more it will yield life-giving water. Jesus says: “Whoever drinks the water I give him will never be thirsty; no, the water I give shall become a fountain within him, leaping up to provide eternal life” (Jn. 4:14).

Fr. Augustine Tharappel, msfs