"Rising very early before dawn,
Jesus left and went off to a deserted place..."
(Mk 1:35)
Why does Jesus repeatedly head off to a deserted place? Because that is "...where he prayed" (Mk 1:35), where the Son of God himself went:
- to bask in the eternal embrace of perfect Love
- to absorb the anointing presence of the Spirit
- to restore and rejuvenate his healing powers
- to prepare to preach with other-worldly authority
- to discern the will of the Father
Son though he was, Jesus "did not regard equality with God something to be grasped" (Phil 2:6). Rather, he retreated from the tumult of his public mission to reclaim his deepest identity and to commune with the source of life itself.
Amid the disorienting days in which we live, let's look for a deserted place--or perhaps a desert of sorts:
- To bask in the eternal embrace of perfect Love who holds us in existence; to foster a grateful awareness of this moment-by-moment gift.
- To absorb the anointing presence of the Spirit who ignites the charisms of our callings; to allow the full array of our baptismal gifts to bear fruit by asking that they not remain dormant.
- To restore and rejuvenate Jesus' healing power within us, so we can then carry it to others; to drive out the demons of isolation and despair which haunt so many with our healing presence.
- To prepare us to proclaim the Gospel to every creature (Mk 16:15), with the authority and compassion of Christ; to become missionary disciples who can speak the Word born out of personal friendship with the Lord.
- To discern the will of the Father who is the source of "all good giving and of every perfect gift" (1 Jas 1:17); to make Jesus' work our life work, namely, willing the will of the One who sends us.
In a special way, let's pursue Jesus anew in a deserted place because--as Peter explained to the Lord--"Everyone is looking for you" (Mk 1:37)!
