LENT WK. 4: HOLY INDIFFERENCE

“Our only desire and our one choice should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.” – St. Ignatius

How many times have you really longed for a specific outcome or answer even as you pray, “Your will be done”? I’m sure it’s countless times, just like me!

It’s only God’s grace that can move our hearts into the spacious inner place of holy indifference.

What in the world is holy indifference?

Indifference, in this context, is not apathy or “whatever, it’s fine.” Holy indifference is releasing my grip on any emotional, mental, spiritual, or relational state I wish to have and entrusting it to the Lord’s loving care. It is receiving the grace from God to say we truly “want and choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me” even while recognizing our desires before Him.

Our desires may be genuinely good. The challenge comes in our human tendency to make good things central things. My soul can only flourish when God alone is at the center.

Becoming holy indifferent is always a work of the Spirit within. We cannot identify or release our inner attachments on our own (areas where our inner person consciously or unconsciously insists that something be so, or to which our identity or sense of wellbeing is connected).

When we release our grip on our attachments at His invitation, ask for, and yield to the grace of holy indifference, the door is open to deeper trust of God’s loving involvement, activity, and intention for us. He leads us to interior peace, freedom from anxiety about outcomes, and joy that doesn’t depend on circumstances.

Scripture for Lectio Divina

Philippians 3:7-8 - “But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Lamentations 3:24 – “I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.’”

Sit with these scriptures daily. Read them slowly. Notice what word or phrase draws you. Listen for what Jesus is whispering about the freedom He offers. Ask for the grace to release your grip on your attachments before Him.

Reflection Questions

1. What am I holding tightly to even as I pray?

2. When I imagine loosening my grip on ________, what fear arises? What might be possible if I trusted Jesus with that fear?

3. Where is God inviting me to ask for and receive the grace of holy indifference this Lent?

“I let go of my desire to change any situation, condition, person or myself.

I open to the love and presence of God and God’s action within. Amen.” (From The Welcoming Prayer by Father Thomas Keating)