Today's other readings are Heb. 2: 14-18 and Psalm 105
In today's gospel, after a busy day of healing, including Peter's mother-in-law, we read that the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus went off to a deserted place, and there He prayed.
He prayed. I have always wondered, why did He pray? After all, He was the Son of God. But in His earthly life, He was man - flesh and blood like you and me, like us in all things but sin. To that question then, maybe the answer is He prayed for the strength and courage for what would unfold for Him that coming day.
Or maybe He prayed for all those He had just healed - that they would now live lives of gratitude and faith in thanksgiving to God for what he had done for them.
Or maybe He prayed for the first disciples that He had just recruited, people like Peter and Andrew and James and John, that their hearts and minds would remain open and true to the presence of the Holy One in their midst.
Or maybe He prayed for all those things I have mentioned, and for other things as well. In any case, He prayed.
So if He prayed, what about us? What is our prayer life like - do we take to time to pray? As one priest said in a homily I heard many years ago, if He prayed, then how could we not do the same?