Photo Caption: Father Tony Lee, pastor of St. Anthony’s Parish in Atkinson, offers the invocation before a town hall meeting with President Obama on Aug. 17.

ATKINSON — Thanks to Bill Wyffels of Wyffels Hybrids here, the call from the White House came on Sunday night. President Obama’s staff wanted to know if Father Tony Lee would like to offer the invocation at a town hall meeting at the seed corn company on Wednesday morning.

“Of course,” was the reply.

“I was required to provide some information for a security background check and notified (Tuesday) with details about my arrival and the procedure for the invocation,” Father Lee, pastor of St. Anthony’s Parish, told The Catholic Post by e-mail. “The members of the White House staff were very pleasant to work with. While I was asked just prior to giving the invocation to present my comments, I never felt that there was any editorial pressure of any kind.”

The plan was for him to meet President Obama and then go to the podium to offer his prayer after the Pledge of Allegiance. The pledge and the prayer happened, but Obama — who also visited Alpha and made a surprise stop in Galesburg Wednesday — was running late and Father Lee never got to meet him.

That didn’t stop the priest from praying for the president.

“May our conversation with President Obama bring forth fresh ideas in response to the complex challenges we face as a nation. Give him and all elected officials your wisdom and protection,” Father Lee said.

“Part of the prayer talked about seeds and feeding the hungry. I tried to draw from images of what was going on in the world, but they only give you a minute or two,” he explained. “I tried to pack all of that into the time I had.”

Father Lee said it was great for the Henry County community to get a visit from the president “and great for Atkinson to be in the spotlight a little.”

“I was honored to participate in the town hall meeting and have received many kind and affirming comments from parishioners and members of the Village of Atkinson,” he said.

The text of Father Lee’s prayer is found here.