(The following reflection appears in the August 2025 issue of Associate Update newsletter.)

By Sister Nancy Liddy

“I only talk to God when I need a favor,

And I only pray when I ain’t got a prayer.”

– Jelly Roll (singer/composer Jason Deford)

In the summertime I would sometimes go on trips with my grandmother and her sister. In whatever place we were staying, my Great Aunt Kay would somehow find the host, the owner, or an employee and strike up a nice relationship. She greeted them with a “bonjour” or “hello” and, no matter how brief the visit to the hotel, shop or café, she would say “adieu,” or “a bientot” acknowledging the presence of everyone as we departed. I later noticed even on outings with them to the bakery back home, these two ladies were setting a baseline of civility between us and every person we met along the way.

The only time we traveled together by boat, we cruised through a storm for days. The ordeal took a toll on the passengers, and many insisted on immediate attention to their needs. Some were even more demanding with calls to the captain. It made an impression on me to observe my grandmother and Aunt Kay keeping the same simple level of humanity and decency in their communication with everyone on the ship.

God, through Christ, desires a basic level of communication with us. We feel sure God does not mind answering us when we are panicked and tossed about on the sea of life. But out of fear, we want to know God will “fix this,” calm us down, keep us safe and be there. Yet, it is also important to remember God desires a relationship with each one of us that does not always mean emergencies.

Sister Martha Buser, OSU, in her collected writings (All About Love) calls us as we age to a “contentment” that springs from the desire for unity and relationship with God. Because God is love, God desires love to and from us. Let’s not wait until the next big violent storm comes up to reach out and build again on this great relationship that was formed within us before we were born.

Something to Consider

Perhaps begin your daily communication or prayer/intercession with some form of these simple suggestions:

• Offer a “Buongiorno” or “Good Morning, God.”                                                                                      
• “Dear God, I am grateful for all I have been given … even the difficulties. And I know I am growing in love because I am doing it all with You.”
• “I will walk with You through each moment of this day – through the good, the celebratory, the bad and the challenging.”
• “Allow me to trust, on my best and worst days, that You will rescue me.”
• Offer a prayer in communion with all the saints, our family members who have gone before us and the canonized.