“So be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to Mount Sinai, and present yourself to Me there on the top of the mountain.” (Exo 34:2)

“In the morning, long before dawn, [Jesus Christ] got up and left the house, and went off  to a lonelyplace and prayed there.’ In the middle of sentences loaded with action – healing suffering people, casting out devils, responding to impatient disciples, travelling from town to town and preaching from synagogue to synagogue – we find these quiet words: ‘In the morning, long before dawn, He got up and left the house, and went off to a lonely place and prayed there.’

In the center of breathless activities we hear a restful breathing. Surrounded by hours of moving we find a movement of quiet stillness. In the heart of much involvement there are words of withdrawal. In the midst of action there is contemplation. And after much togetherness there is solitude. The more I read this nearly silent sentence locked in between the loud words of action, the more I have the sense that the secret of Jesus’ ministry is hidden in that lonely place where He went to pray, early in the morning, long before dawn.”

Henri Nouwen