An aspect of prayer that receives too little attention is that of solitude . There is an incarnational principle at work in every prayer time I'm involved in. I discover that God and I blend, while still remaining distinct. I discover I am at one with all that is, and this is graced reality. Samuel discovers this when God calls him and he responds spontaneously. In Mark's Gospel, one of the first things we notice about Jesus is that he is a seeker of solitude (Mk.1:12-13). The Spirit drives Jesus into solitude, in the wilderness, that Jesus might understand his call, right at the start of his public life.

In today's Gospel, Jesus leaves the house, before dawn and searches out a lonely place, to pray! This happens after he had spent a day, curing, healing people from all sorts of illnesses; an experience quite exhilarating, especially if you have had the 'whole town' at your door!

Certainly it must have been exhausting; but Jesus' idea of taking 'time off' to relax is different, very unlike us. I have failed to realise that the time of prayer is a re-freshing time with God, where I get re-charged, so that I too, like Jesus realise that I need to go where the Lord calls.