Day 28 of Lent :: Divine Interdependence

“I’m telling you this straight.
The Son can’t independently do a thing,
only what he sees the Father doing.
What the Father does, the Son does.”

John 5:19

Prayer requires that we stand in God’s presence with open hands, naked and vulnerable, proclaiming to ourselves and to others that without God we can do nothing. This is difficult in a climate where the predominant counsel is, “Do your best and God will do the rest.” We have turned prayer into a last resort to be used only when all our own resources are depleted. Then even the Lord has become the victim of our impatience. Discipleship does not mean to use God when we can no longer function ourselves. On the contrary, it means to recognize that we can do nothing at all, but that God can do everything through us.

Reflection: God, it truly frightens me to recognize that I am totally dependent on You. I know that my life is not my own, though I arrogantly act as if I am in control. On the contrary, it is You who determines my destiny. Ease my worries over my dependency on You, soften my impatience with Your plans for me, and help me to acknowledge that You can do all things through me.

Action: Place a bowl of water on the dining room table or somewhere else accessible. Before or after meals, or when entering or leaving the premises, each member of the household can dip a hand in the water in memory of his or her baptism in Christ.*

*Judy Bauer, Lent and Easter, 78-79