An Example of Prayer

Gospel Reflection for January 15th, 2024

Christ in the Desert

St. Mark includes a significant detail of the life of Christ in today’s Gospel:

“Rising very early before dawn, He left and went off to a deserted place, where He prayed.” Mark 1:35

In this passage, our Lord does three necessary spiritual practices that set the example for us. This detail is given in the midst of St. Mark recording many miraculous works that Our Lord does. At the beginning of the Gospel, He heals St. Peter’s Mother-in-Law, and afterward, He goes throughout the region of Galilee “preaching and driving out demons.” In the middle of all of the miraculous, almost positioned at the center of these deeds, is Christ’s practice of prayer. The three spiritual practices that He does are:

1. He rises early

2. He goes away to a secluded place

3. He prays as the first thing He does

First, He rises early. The spiritual practice of rising early is an ancient practice that mortifies the body. As humans, sleep is a necessity and the vast majority of us enjoy sleep on top of that necessity. All things being equal, most people would rather stay in bed than wake up early. The snooze button is a favorite of a great many people. And so there is something truly mortifying about rising early when we could remain in our beds. St. Jose Maria Escriva comments on this:

“Conquer yourself each day from the very first moment, getting up on the dot, at a fixed time, without yielding a single minute to laziness. If, with God’s help, you conquer yourself, you will be well ahead for the rest of the day... The heroic minute. It is the time fixed for getting up. Without hesitation: a supernatural reflection and...up! The heroic minute: here you have a mortification that strengthens your will and does no harm to your body.”¹

Here, we can see an exhortation to rise when the alarm goes off. It is a form of conquering oneself for the day ahead. If we can temper ourselves in the context of sleep, it will be easier to temper ourselves when it comes to other bodily pleasures and guard us against the sins of the flesh. Our Lord rises early, certainly not to guard against sin but to suffer in the flesh for our redemption. Even the sacrifice of waking up early is salvific by Him. We participate in that same sacrifice when we rise early and do not snooze.

The second practice is that He goes to a secluded place. The practice of having a specific place for prayer is encouraged by Our Lord both in this passage as well as in Matthew 6:6. This can be a specific place in our homes, perhaps a corner where we can set out a crucifix or statue. Our conversation with God ought to be an intimate conversation that, like Christ, begins our day. If we do this, we are focusing first on God, giving thanks for the new day, and consecrating all to Him. We should be asking Him for Him to begin all of our acts, carry them on by His grace, and bring them all to completion according to His providence.

Finally, prayer itself. Pray is the lifeblood of the Christian. We serve a God who does not desire to be far off but seeks to have an intimate relationship with each one of us. Prayer is one of the chief means of this intimacy. This is a time for us to welcome the Lord into our interior mansion and sit with Him. This prayer can take any form, whether that be something previously composed and arranged like the Liturgy of the Hours, or it can be something original to ourselves. This time is for us to rest in the Lord before the business of our day. Just as Christ entered into an intimate conversation with the Father before His work of the day, so too, are we to go to God with our needs.

Christ gives us an example to follow in today’s Gospel. While it is not easy, it is a spiritually edifying practice to rise early, go to a secluded place, and pray. We ought to strive to imitate Our Blessed Lord in these three practices. We will surely see the fruit of them if we do and our days will be oriented toward God.

1. St. Jose Maria Escriva, The Way.