A Jesuit Catholic University
in Omaha, Nebraska, since 1878

[307] Heb 2:14-18 Ps 105:1-2, 3-4, 6-7, 8-9 Mark 1:29-39

Weekly Guide for Daily Prayer The Daily Reflections

“Rising very early before dawn,
he left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed.” – Mark 1:35

A deserted place can take our minds down a number of roads: solitude, loneliness, peace, alienation, forlornness, and the list could go on ad infinitum.  What we should strive to remember, to understand, is that our deserted places, be they literally deserted or figuratively empty, are opportunities for us to meet God.  Those places, challenging as they may be sometimes (not peaceful as we hope for), can thrust us into an acute state of unrest.  That unrest is where we can look into ourselves, glimpse what we truly are (people, broken and truly dependent on love for life and actualization), and humbly look to God for guidance and solace.  It is in our moments of anxiety that we have the chance to really rise as better individuals by reaching out for the grace that quietly waits for us in those times…
 
The wonderful thing about being human is that each moment affords us that chance to reach out to grace from our deep, constant restlessness, and, in so doing, allows God to mold us anew.