Desire for Friendship with God!

I remember growing up in a household that was always busy!  From having a large family, to having two older and social sisters, there were always people over!  Trying to go to sleep when I was a little was always hard because I could hear the party going on downstairs.  So I would sneak down stairs to hear what the laughter was all about and avoid going to bed altogether!  

In high school, I found something similar.  My high school friends would hang out almost every night (each night was nothing special, we would do one of the following and repeat - movie, bowling, shooting pool, hanging out at various houses).  Even though the nights were not to different, the last thing I wanted to do was miss a night out with my friends!  Why?  Well, I didn't want to miss out on the laughter, inside stories and/or jokes from the night.

There have been other times in my life, where I would experience something very powerful and beautiful; like a gorgeous sunset, a clear sky, shooting stars, first snow fall, etc.  My heart would stop and I would start thinking of the people I longed to share that experience with enter my romantic side.  

It wasn't until class on spiritual direction in the Holy Land that all these experiences/longings came together. It was in understanding that friendship is based on shared experiences, this includes our friendship with God.   My mind just started flashing back to all those times: I would sneak out of my room as a kid because I wanted to be apart of the group even if that meant bugging my sisters.  I didn't want to miss out hanging out with my friends in high schol, because I didn't want to have a lesser friendship; I wanted to be "on the inside" (name that TV show).  And when I was captured by beauty, all I wanted to do was share that same beauty and experience with another for a deeper friendship!

This points to a simple truth!  I was made for relationships; but more specifically I WAS MADE (WE WERE ALL MADE) FOR A RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

Moving forward into the celibate life of the priesthood, I sit and reflect on my friendship with God.  I reflect on the idea of shared experience with the Lord.  Questions come to mind: Have I shared all my experiences with God?  Have shared my greatest joys and deepest sorrows?  Have I shared my hopes and dreams?  Have I shared my frustrations?  Have I made time to spend time with Him and Him alone?  If I truly am called to this ultimate relationship, what am I doing to have more shared experiences with the Lord.  The Lord will always be my greatest friend because He is always there at every moment.  But I get distracted, I don't invite the Lord into my experiences.  It's easy now to see how I have felt distant from God.  

The Lord is always there and waiting!  All I need to do is invite the Lord into my experiences and everyone of my longings will be fulfilled!