Too busy NOT to pray:
Following Jesus' example

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Andre Lesperance

"Rising very early before dawn, he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed."

Jesus was a busy guy. Sometimes I forget that. I usually just assume that life was much simpler back in the first century Middle East: no cell phones, no e-mail, no instant messaging.

But in today's Gospel I am reminded that even with my cell phone and ever-growing e-mail inbox, the demands on my time are not half what they were for Jesus.

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Feb. 5, 2006) Jb 7:1-4, 6-7 Ps 147:1-2, 3-4, 5-6 1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23 Mk 1:29-39

Even when Jesus had departed to a solitary place, his disciples came and found him there, saying, "Everyone is looking for you." The whole town gathered at the door of wherever he was.

I certainly don't have that happening to me. Jesus' time was in much higher demand than I could probably imagine.

Despite having no shortage of wonderful things to do with his time, like healing the sick and preaching the gospel, Jesus withdrew from the crowds to pray to the Father in solitude. What an example!

Evidently, he was too busy not to pray. If Jesus, the Son of God, needed time to pray in quiet, where do I get off thinking that I'm "too busy" to pray? Yet I am constantly tempted to think just that. Why is this so?

There are many urgent demands on our time, but not all of them are important. It is the important, but non-urgent things, which are harder to prioritize.

We can easily set aside things such as exercise and writing a letter to a friend, while we rush to take care of less important but more urgent demands. One of the keys to life, I am convinced, is choosing the important over the urgent.

For me, prayer usually fits into that category of important but not urgent. Occasionally I feel the urgency of prayer, particularly when I'm overwhelmed or feeling helpless, but for the most part it is nothing that I feel the need to do any time soon.

Thus, I can find myself going a week or more without a quiet time of focused prayer. It can often seem so much more appealing to get my e-mail inbox cleared out than to consider sitting in quiet for a half hour, reading the Scriptures and praying.

Thankfully, I have the example of Jesus in today's Gospel to remind me of what is truly important. I also feel blessed that God has given me the grace to desire prayer and at least sometimes to see the fruits of prayer in my own life.

When I take time each morning to meditate on the word of God, talk to God, and listen for his movements within my heart, I am far more attentive to the Holy Spirit during the rest of the day. I desire to love and serve others more; my heart grows larger and my eyes see more clearly.

	Reflection questions • When is the last time I sat in solitude and really had a "heart-to-heart" with God? • What less important things could I set aside to make room for a deeper prayer life?

He is the driver and I am the passenger. Each day I am tempted to take that driver's seat, to try to steer my life in the direction I think I want. But even as Jesus needed quiet time with God, I need it even more in order to continually choose the passenger seat and leave the driving up to God.

Andre Lesperance is coordinator of small groups and undergrad ministry at St. Paul University Catholic Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

St. Paul's Web site is www.stpaulscc.org

Faith Alive!

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	Faith in the Marketplace   This Week's Discussion Point: Do you think of your parish as a hospitable, welcoming place? Why?     Selected Response From Readers:
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