Fr Paul Gooley reads today’s Gospel from Mark (1: 29-39) in which Jesus heals many people including the mother-in-law of his disciple, Simon-Peter. Fr Paul says the snippets gathered in the Gospel reading give us a sample of Jesus’ activity in Capernaum, a little fishing village on the edge of the Lake of Galilee: that activity is healing and prayer. In the first instance, the healing is of the relative of his friend and follower Simon Peter, and this reminds us that Jesus does respond if we pray for the needs of our nearest and dearest. Then the summary of his evening activity shows his concern to bring healing and wholeness to many. But, the third part of our Gospel tells us of Jesus going off to pray in the early morning, which shows that the well-spring of all his activity was his union with the God whom he called his Father. We cannot say what Jesus’ prayer was, any more than I can say to you what prayer is, but the confident communication between Father and Son must have been the source of his strength and compassion. Today, Fr Paul says we remind ourselves… Any Christian can follow the example of Jesus in today’s Gospel: we can heal those around us in so many ways. It doesn’t need to be a miracle! A greeting, a look, a smile, a touch – all of these can bring the peace of Christ to someone in desperate need of reassurance. We, too, can also spend time in prayer.