Being childlike: Inner wonder and thanksgiving

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Renee Anne Poulin

"From Him and through Him and for Him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen."

Saint Paul addresses a prayer to God, praising His immense riches, deep wisdom and knowledge, and unsurpassed generosity, hoping that his readers will also come to recognize these wondrous qualities in their Creator.

Saint Paul's childlike attitude leads him to acknowledge that all comes from Providence, and that everything is directed towards Him.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (August 21, 2005) Is 22:19-23 Ps 138:1-2, 2-3, 6, 8 Rom 11:33-36 Mt 16:13-20

I believe this inner attitude of wonder and thanksgiving for God's presence in our lives is what Jesus meant when he declared that only those who accept the Kingdom of God like a child will be able to enter it.

Being childlike means that one lives his or her life with the knowledge that without God he or she can do nothing. This is the spiritual poverty of the Beatitudes that Jesus quotes as necessary for the reception of the Kingdom. Even our very relationship with God is a divine gift; only God himself can give us the opportunity to draw close to Him.

Prayer of praise helps us identify the presence of God in our everyday lives and assists us in using our temporal and spiritual goods wisely. He who is aware that all comes from God will not be overly attached to anything that passes.

Furthermore, prayer of praise leads to prayer of thanksgiving. It is not sufficient to simply "count one's blessings" but to realize that they come from above! Let us not act like the nine lepers that were healed by Christ and then left forgetting to thank Him!

May we not forget that even difficulties and trials are permitted by God to help us grow closer to Him. "Tout est grâce" (All is grace), noted Saint Thérèse of Lisieux. We should therefore thank God for all that He proposes.

Being childlike also means placing boundless trust in Providence. After all, once we notice how much the Lord has been at work in our lives, then how could we not be confident that God will provide as He has before?

With this inner disposition, we should also address all of our needs to God. The Saint of the Little Flower, who perhaps most embodied childlikeness before God, taught: "On ne peut avoir trop de confiance dans le Bon Dieu, si puissant et miséricordieux" (One can never place too much trust in the Good Lord, (who is) so powerful and merciful).

A few years ago, I visited Famille Marie-Jeunesse, a religious community in Quebec (Canada). What struck me most about the way that this community prayed was that each of their requests would begin with the words "Thank you . . ." Thank you Lord for blessing so-and-so; thank you Holy Spirit for helping us pray . . .

	Reflection questions • In this past day/week/month, how has God manifested His riches, His wisdom, His knowledge to you? How has God been generous with you? • Start and end your prayer in thanksgiving. Be spontaneous and trusting!

To me, this meant praying as Jesus suggested, as though we had already received the graces asked. I have since adopted this practice of thanking God in advance in my personal prayer life as I believe it to be a beautiful act of faith.

In times when prayer has been most difficult, I found that prayer of thanksgiving has helped renew my filial relationship with the Father, keep my gaze fixed on Him for whom we exist, and, like Saint Paul, let myself be captivated by God's power and majesty, as manifested in all of Creation.

Renee Anne Poulin, a University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student, is active in St. Paul University Catholic Center as a lector and in its music ministry.

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

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