A spiritual writer once said: "Prayer is an end to isolation." At creation, God said "It is not good for man to be alone" [Gen 2:18]. Loneliness and isolation can be the cause of great human suffering. On a human level, Jesus experienced loneliness and abandonment, particularly in his Passion as he foretold at the Last Supper. The Letter to the Hebrews affirms that Jesus became a human being like us enduring the same trials that we do except for sin [Heb 4:15]. However, in the depths of his soul he had the comfort of knowing that the Father was with him.

As human beings, in this life we will not have the same experience of the Father's presence which animated Jesus. Yet, through faith we realize that Jesus' experience of human existence is somehow both a model and a promise for us. If the Father was with Jesus, then the Father is with us, though in a different way. We proclaim this mystery at Christmas when we affirm that Jesus is Emmanuel, "God with us". Turning to the Father in prayer, we enjoy the comfort of God's presence and we experience in faith that we are not alone.