“Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” Mark 1:35
This verse from the Gospel of Mark speaks of Jesus going to a deserted place to pray. It’s not talking about any average person here. It’s talking about Jesus Christ, God Incarnate. This verse and many others throughout the Gospels tell us that Jesus prayed, and He prayed a lot. In fact, there are 25 instances recorded in the Gospels in which Jesus prayed. He prayed when He was alone, He prayed in public, He prayed before meals, He prayed before making important decisions, He prayed before healing someone, etc. Some might say, "If Jesus was God, why did He pray so much?" But we have to remember that Jesus was not just fully God; He was also fully human. He was like us, as Hebrews 4:15 says, “In all ways but sin”, and in His humanity, just like us, Jesus needed to pray.
The Gospel of Mark goes on to say that after Jesus prayed, He said, “Let us go on to the nearby villages that I may preach there also. For this purpose have I come.” Jesus prayed to prepare and strengthen himself for His public ministry of spreading the gospel. The importance Jesus placed on prayer should stand as a great example to everyone, but most especially to bishops, priests, deacons, and consecrated brothers and sisters, because the success or failure of their ministry is directly related to the strength of their prayer life. We were told this many times during diaconate formation. I also remember being told that if we ever meet a priest or deacon who is not living his vocation, in most cases this is due to a deficiency or failure in their prayer life. During the five years of formation, the importance of developing and maintaining a strong prayer life was emphasized and reemphasized more than anything else.
In the book of Hebrews, St. Paul gives us an explanation of why Jesus as God took on flesh and blood. It says that He had to become like us, His brothers and sisters, that He might be a merciful High Priest and free us from sin. He knows what we go through in life because He, like us, was tested in his life on earth, and through what He suffered, He is able to help us who are being tested by the devil as well. He goes on to say that through His death, Jesus destroyed the power of death and freed those who, through fear of death, had been subject to the slavery of sin all their life.
It is clear that St. Paul, in saying that Jesus destroyed the power of death, does not mean a physical death. We all know that physically, we will all die, but there is something much worse than dying physically: dying spiritually. In dying spiritually, we then abandon or reject God. The problem with that type of death is that it never ends. Spiritual death doesn’t mean that we will stop existing (because our soul is eternal), but it does mean that we will exist forever, eternally separated from God in hell. This is true death. Jesus came so that none of us would ever have to experience this.
Jesus gave us the way to avoid such a painful end. He made us part of his family and fills us with the Holy Spirit through baptism and then teaches us how we should follow him through His Church. He leads us to live his narrow way, of prayer, self-denial, and works of mercy. He encourages us to live a life focused on Him, so that throughout our life, even through the spiritual highs and lows, we will always be moving closer to the Lord.
Sounds simple, doesn’t it? But while it may be simple, it is never easy. Between our self-centered ways, the influence of our secular world, and the temptations of the enemy, it’s difficult. However, the way to overcome this and unite ourselves to Jesus is by following His example of going off to a deserted place to pray, every day if possible. The best way to do this is to find a place where you can be in the very presence of God himself. Now, it's not on top of a mountain, deep in the forest, near the sea, or anywhere else in nature. While these are not bad places to pray, the ideal deserted place God gave us to come and spend one-on-one time with Him, is right here in the Church; in every Catholic Church on earth where Jesus is present Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, 24/7, in the Eucharist.
This is the place where you can speak directly to God and sit and listen for his quiet response as He speaks to your heart. Spending time with Jesus is how we improve our spiritual hearing. After all, Jesus is calling all of us to serve Him in some great way. He’s calling us in ways we can’t even imagine. So, pray, listen, and give Him your YES!