The gospel passage for today places Jesus at the end of his visit to the synagogue in Capernaum. There are many actions described in Saint Mark's telling but I want to focus today on one line that appears near the end of the passage. After having encountered Simon's mother-in-law, and having met many others later that evening, Jesus went to bed. He rose early the next morning, left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed (Mk 1:35).
Such moments of recollection appear at various times throughout the scriptures. We can only imagine what those times were like, but we know that for Jesus, they were precious moments when he could pause, pray and be strengthened. Like him, we too need to seek out such moments for ourselves, otherwise we run the risk of quickly exhausting our energy.
Do we regularly take time to go off to a deserted place? Do we take time to be present to Jesus and to be aware of the ways in which Jesus is present to us? Are we aware of the energy that we draw from the practice of regularly spending time in the presence of Jesus? Somehow, it seems that when we are faithful to this practice, we always have enough energy, creativity ... and we are able to welcome others with patience and with love.
Have a great day.
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