Jesus went to pray

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Reflection on the Gospel(s) 

Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Matthew 14:22-33

9 August 2020

"Jesus went up to the hill-country by himself to pray. ... he was alone there" (Matthew 14:23).

"Contemplare et contemplata aliis tradere ... Contemplate and share with others the fruits of contemplation" (St Thomas Aquinas, ST III, Q. 40, A. 1, Ad 2).


Each of the Gospels relates incidents of Jesus' prayer. As the evangelists present their versions of Jesus' life, they each record that our Lord prays even as he ministers to those he encounters. 

Often, Jesus goes to a lonely place, away from others, to pray. It happens before important decisions or before he acts, and after he has preached, taught, healed, or been with, people.

At times, the crowds follow him, making solitude impossible and effectively stopping him before he can begin. At other times, Jesus is called from his prayer by the disciples. Often, the needs of others draw Jesus away from prayer.

These interruptions are always for something worthwhile - to teach, to heal, to feed, to save the disciples adrift on a stormy Sea of Galilee by walking towards them! 

Yet, despite all these distractions or these good reasons not to pray, we hear again and again that Jesus goes to be alone somewhere, goes to pray.

Jesus does not allow being busy to supplant time in prayer.

It is as if prayer is Jesus' impulse, as if Jesus' need for prayer is instinctive. And, of course, it is - as Son, Jesus is drawn to connect with the Father. 

If, in each of the Gospel accounts, focus on Jesus' prayer is so much in evidence, what does that tell us about our call to prayer? How could we ever think we might do without prayer? 

If Jesus - who is so much in union with the Father - needs this, how much more is it necessary for us to spend time in prayer, to listen to and for God, to seek that same union with the Father. If we are busy, faced with many calls on our time, our energies, our gifts, we need even more to leave space for God.

Without prayer and the space it offers to be in union with God, we will have nothing to offer others and will quickly burn ourselves out trying to pour from an empty cup.

Like the other evangelists, Matthew puts a spotlight on Jesus at prayer. I wonder if in that lies part of the reason that Saint Dominic loved the Gospel of Matthew so much. 

St Dominic knew the necessity of balancing the urgency of ministry, the demands of preaching the Gospel of the good news of Jesus, with making time for that same Jesus, for building and maintaining relationship with that same Lord Jesus. 
St Dominic knew that one cannot pass on the fruits of one’s contemplation without first contemplating. Without time in prayer, without a relationship with God nurtured and nourished by time in contemplation of God, there can be no fruit of contemplation, there can be no preaching, there can be no sharing with others.

We must keep our eyes fixed firmly on our Lord - left to our own devices, drawing on ourselves alone, we will soon sink! 
Like Saint Peter, we must take the outstretched hand of our Risen Lord and hold on tightly as if our life depends on it - because it does!


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