An understanding heart:
God will provide if we ask for it

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Matt Bayer

I know how Solomon felt."I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act," he told God.

I cannot count how many times that thought has entered my mind: beginning college in a new city, surrounded by new people. Or preparing for this summer, when I'll go to Montana to work on a site for teen mission trips, about a thousand miles outside my comfort zone.

Or whenever I think about that dreaded event a scant two years away, graduation (where have these past two years gone?). The world is so huge, and sometimes I have no idea what I'm doing in it.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time (July 24, 2005) 1 Kgs 3:5, 7-12 Ps 119:57, 72, 76-77, 127-128, 129-130 Rom 8:28-30 Mt 13:44-52 or 13:44-46

Solomon knew what to ask for, though - "an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong." There's the key to navigating life, whether you're the king of Israel or a college student.

We don't need wealth, or good grades, or a pleasant life, as much as we desperately need the wisdom and grace to perceive God's will for us and to carry it through faithfully. After all, what good are riches if you don't know what to do with them? What good is a long life if you waste it?

Okay, so I need an understanding heart - now where am I supposed to get one of those? Taking my cue from Solomon again, I notice that he asked God . . . and God gave it to him!

Is that how it works? All we need to do is ask? That's cause for excitement. Like so many other things, God will grant us the wisdom that we need, that is so difficult to obtain for ourselves, if we pray.

Perhaps not all our prayers will be answered the way we would like. God implied that He wouldn't have been as receptive to Solomon if he had requested the life of his enemies, for example.

	Reflection questions • Do I ask for God's help in dealing with stresses of every day life? • Do I pray for understanding and wisdom in addition to my material needs?

But when we ask for what we truly need, the understanding to distinguish right and wrong, God will answer. Of course, we may not gain our wisdom in a wave of God's hand like Solomon did, but it will come. God will prepare us for what is ahead of us - if we ask Him.

As for college, God gave me the wisdom I needed to flourish here. I pray - every day, with confidence in His response - that He will guide me through the rest of my life as well, because the Lord knows I need it.

Matt Bayer is a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in physics and history. He co-led a bible study at St. Paul University Catholic Center this year.

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

Faith Alive!

Faith Alive! is published bi-weekly during the summer. The next Faith Alive! will appear in the July 28 issue of the Catholic Herald.