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Despite what my credentials may indicate, I'm not going to be actually giving a talk on philosophy this evening.

So if the terror started to grip your hearts as that was being said,

don't worry. We're going to be talking about the presence of God. And specifically, I want to

talk about how we can become more aware of the presence of God at every moment. I want to set the scene a little bit here.

What am I talking about?

Why am I talking about awareness

of the presence of God?

Well, you know, this idea of seeking

to enter into the presence of God and to remember the presence of God as a practice of prayer has its source in St. Luke's Gospel.

Remember the story, the parable about the woman and the unjust judge who had to pester the unjust judge until he finally gave her a just

settlement and decision. Well, before our Lord goes into that parable, he introduces the parable

with the following statement, that Jesus told them a parable about the necessity

for them to pray always without becoming weary. Now listen to that statement, to pray always

without becoming weary. That's a tall order. But what makes it even bigger is the fact that the

sacred author tells us that Jesus was saying this because it is necessary for us to pray

always without becoming weary. Unless you think that this is an artifact of the English translation,

I can assure you that the Greek actually says, uses a word for necessity in the text itself.

And so this is strong language and a big task. And what's more, this is not only an exhortation

found in the gospel, but we also find it in St. Paul.

In St. Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians, he tells his followers this.

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