Psalm Reflection: The Fifth Sunday of Lent (Cycle B) (Copy)

For the Scrutiny (Year A) Psalm, see: https://www.mannafoodforthought.com/blog/2020/3/24/psalm-reflection-the-fifth-sunday-of-lent-cycle-a

“Create a clean heart in me, O God.” - Psalm 51

I am a nervous cleaner. Can you relate?

Either way I am sure we all have things we do when we are anxious or worried that help us to feel a sense of control or accomplishment. Whether it is working out, cleaning, organizing, calling a friend, getting advice, retreating away, getting a massage, incessant Googling or falling down YouTube rabbit-holes, we all have ways we try to get a hold of ourselves or certain problems when we feel helpless.

These, what I will call “emotional survival strategies,” might work in the short term, but they will never allow us to control the things that are outside of our control, or fix problems that we have no way of fixing. We often bring this same attitude to prayer, sharing with God our plans for how He should fix our lives and hoping for those same short term results. The irony of that approach is that we are essentially offering a $5 financial plan to a trillionaire; God is already able to do any and everything possible to work for our greatest good. He does not need our ideas.

I think we treat prayer like the show Shark Tank: we are the “inventor” with a plan or a solution to our lives, and we go into prayer trying to persuade God, the investor, to get behind our idea and give us what we are asking for to make it happen. However, even on Shark Tank, the inventors always have to give up a percentage of their company for the investment they want. They always have to surrender some amount of control.

Are you willing to do the same? Are you willing to surrender?

If you want a clean heart as the Psalmist says, you will never be able to do it on your own. If we could clean and purify our own hearts, Jesus would have been unnecessary. We are incapable of doing it on our own. We have to let God do it for us. We can participate and collaborate with God by building a trusting relationship with Him and learning how to surrender, but ultimately it is God who does the important work of redemption and healing, not us. We simply open the door.

Being in a pandemic has thrust us all, in one way or another, into situations where we have been completely out of control. In the beginning we had no concept of how to face this situation, there was so much conflicting information, and we all experienced an overwhelming amount of anxiety about how things would play out. We are still living it. We will not get through it without some wounds and some scars. It has been messy and it will continue to be, but only the Lord can truly make us clean.

So, this week, give up worrying about one thing in your life. Stop Googling it, researching it, or talking it over (and over) with your friends. Bring it to prayer, lay it down at the feet of the Lord, and surrender it to Him. It can be scary, but remember that He is bigger than our fear, our anxieties, and any problem or worry we could ever face. Trust in Him, and if you still have your doubts, sit down and read Romans 8:31-39.

I am praying for you, please pray for me, and I will see you in the Eucharist.

Matt