Gospel Reflection: Prayer: anytime, anyplace, anywhere

 5th Sunday of Ordinary Time -  Prayer: anytime, anyplace, anywhere

Jesus found a quiet place to pray.

In today's Gospel from Mark we hear the next instalment from Chapter 1 which builds on the past two weeks. Having called the disciples to follow him, Jesus teaches in the synagogue, heals the man with the evil spirit, and today he goes with the other disciples to Simon's house. There he finds Simon's mother in law has a fever and so he heals her. News of his gift of healing spreads and he soon finds crowds coming to be healed. At the end of another busy day, Jesus is tired – something we can all probably relate to. We might want to reflect on what we do after a busy day and imagine what Jesus did?

In the second part of our Gospel today we hear how the next morning, a great while before day, Jesus got up and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed. This is just one of the many times when Jesus takes time to be alone and pray. Jesus wanted and needed to take time to be with his Father – to pray. This year, Pope Francis has designated 2024 as a Year of Prayer, in preparation for the Jubilee Year of Hope (2025).

Year of Prayer

Each Friday on our Parish Blog we will be looking at different prayers. This week more about Meditation which is a form of prayer which is something that is simple for children and adults alike. Children who would only meditate 1 minute for each year, often get great comfort by being silent and still for a few minutes.

Fr John Main a Priest and Benedictine monk founder of the World Community of Christian
Meditators (https://wccm.org) says the aim of meditation is to allow God's mysterious and silent presence within us to become more and more not only a reality, but the reality which gives meaning, shape and purpose to everything we do. But like Jesus we need to take or make time to stop and spend time to pray to be with God. Although one can meditate alone some people find it helpful to meditate in a group, if you’ve not tried it, maybe Monday evening meditation might be just what you are looking for and you would be most welcome!