We read today (Lk 6: 12- 16) that Jesus went up a mountain to pray and spent the night with God. Then He comes back down, and does something very important-- He selects His 12 apostles. We see that pattern a lot in the Gospels. Jesus goes to pray, and then some remarkable event happens. It seems that when Jesus spends time with the Father, His gas tank gets refilled, and He can then move on to some miracle or other important event. When Jesus prays, He is usually alone, and in some remote place. It is just Him and the Father, spending time together. That's how He tells us to pray as well, in our "inner room" (Mt 6:6) and in secret, not making a big show and not babbling "like the pagans." (Mt 6:7) OK, so where are we when we pray? Sure, we pray in church, and that's great. But that isn't alone or in secret. There really isn't a chance at Mass to engage in intimate dialogue. We're supposed to be fully and actively particpating in the liturgy, which is a great form of prayer, but not what we're talking about here. To do what Jesus did before He selected the apostles, and what He does often in the Gospels, requires quiet, and a space where we can simply contemplate the Divine, saying nothing. Do we have a place like that? For most of us, I'm guessing the answer is "no." We live in busy houses with other people around, and we work at jobs which are filled with people and sounds and activity. Maybe our commute is a time when we're alone, but the stress of most people's commutes makes that a tough time for quiet focus on God. So, what to do? Maybe the answer is that we have to be really intentional about prayer, as Jesus seems to have been. He deliberately sought out quiet places, although He was often surrounded by crowds and it must have taken real effort for Him to break away. For us, maybe that means leaving for work a little earlier and stopping at some quiet spot along the way, or doing that on the way home, which might cause us to get home a bit later. Or maybe it means using the lunch break to go off alone, perhaps in an empty office or conference room. Or maybe when you are home you can tell folks that you're going to pray, and ask that they respect your quiet for just 15 minutes. Think about it. Like everything else, finding a time and place for prayer-- finding your mountain-- is a question of priorities. If you make prayer a priority, you'll be able to do it. We all have a mountain to which we can go if we work at it.