Asking God's Assistance

O God, come to my assistance.
O Lord, make haste to help me.

With these two sentences we begin most of the hours of common prayer. When I first entered our community, I had a difficult time seeing the beauty of these sentences. They are okay but they did not seem to express my state of being consistantly. There had to be better sentences than these to use at the beginning of prayers (nevermind that these sentences have been used for centuries).

Slowly, when I realized that the sentences were not going away anytime soon, I started looking for the beauty within them. This is what I discovered: there is a certain peace in knowing that God is there whenever I call--I am not in this alone. God is always there I just need the reminder sometimes--4 times a day minimum is a good reminder. I do not have to do flashy tricks to catch God's attention...God is already there.

Being a person that usually likes to feel self sufficient and in control, I need to remember sometimes that the whole world does not rely on my and my endeavors. It is comforting to know that God is nearby and to be reminded of it regularly.

Sr. Catherine, OSB