Let us pray: God desires our presence

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Elizabeth Planton

The chaplain at Aquinas High School in La Crosse, the school I attended, summed it up pretty well when it comes to prayer.

"Every day I go into the chapel in the high school and pray," he told us."But sometimes I fall asleep," he continued, "and I'll wake up and see that I'm drooling and I'll be so embarrassed that I, the chaplain of the school, have fallen asleep in front of our Lord in the Tabernacle while I was supposed to be praying."

Needless to say, the good chaplain received many laughs from the students as he shared with us his own weaknesses, probably setting many of the young people at ease with his candor and honesty about his narcoleptic tendencies.

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 17, 2005) Wis 12:13, 16-19 Ps 86:5-6, 9-10, 15-16 Rom 8:26-27 Mt 13:24-43 or 13:24-30

A priest falls asleep in front of the Tabernacle during his prayers and then recognizes his own human weaknesses enough to share them with high schoolers! Pretty refreshing, huh?

Throughout life, from our first to our last breaths on earth, we are taught to pray, to take to our knees in front of our Lord and petition for His divine grace to fuse in our hearts.

We approach Jesus with the best of intentions, desiring to enter into communion through our intimate conversations with Him. Yet sometimes our human nature fails us, just as the Aquinas chaplain's fatigue caused his eyelids to droop while he sat in front of the Tabernacle in the midst of his prayers to Christ.

God knows of these flaws, how could He not? Although our weaknesses interfere with our prayer, God assures us through the words of the apostle Paul that while "we do not know how to pray as we ought," we are not alone in our petitions to the Father.

St. Paul reminds us of the eternal Advocate, the Spirit who comes to help us in our prayers and who "intercedes with inexpressible groanings." So even if we don't get it just right, the Spirit is there, waiting in the wings to help us with our prayers!

It's almost as if God is whispering in our ear, "Hey, it's Me. I know you're going to do your best, and even if you mess up, I'll be here to help you along the way."

Our faithful Father did this at Pentecost. He's been doing this for 2,000 years, and He's doing it today with each one of us.

God desires our presence so badly that He disregards our flaws and our failures and looks upon us with the eyes of unconditional love. And every so often He asks us to be with Him as we enter into our prayer. Even though our weaknesses might fail us, He rejoices in the fact that we are simply "there" with Him.

The same chaplain from La Crosse who fell asleep before the Tabernacle said a friend of his had summarized his slumber before the Tabernacle perfectly. "He told me it was kind of like having a pet," the priest said. "You love when the dog is awake and playing with you, but there is a certain peace with the dog lying at your feet, just there with you and resting in your presence."

	Reflection question • What can I do to improve my prayer life and/or my relationship with God?

God desires this of us, too. While our Father delights in our praise and thanksgiving to Him, He also rejoices when we simply rest in His presence, succumbing to our human frailties but with Him nonetheless.

Elizabeth Planton is a freshman at UW-Madison majoring in political science and intends to enroll in law school. She is a lector at St. Paul University Catholic Center's liturgies and a member of the Catholic Student Union.

St. Paul's Web site is www.stpaulscc.org

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