Love pauses

This Advent I have been reading Dilexit nos, Pope Francis' recent encyclical on the Sacred Heart, as slowly and reflectively as possible. This is not such a strange choice of Advent reading as might first appear: the Heart of Jesus, source and symbol of his unlimited love, is fully centred in the Incarnation. In becoming human, Jesus not only took on a human body, but a human heart as well - the deepest core of his being, and of his every emotion and experience. As Dilexit nos reminds us: The eternal Son of God, in his utter transcendence, chose to love each of us with a human heart. His human emotions became the sacrament of that infinite and endless love... In gazing upon the Lord's heart, we contemplate a physical reality... (#60)

But undoubtedly, reading this during Advent has coloured my thoughts. This season of expectant waiting and preparation invites us increasingly to wonder and hushed contemplation of Love's human birth and presence among us. And so, as I read these words, in a section devoted to images of the Sacred Heart, I imagined not statues or icons of an adult Christ, but cribs and nativity scenes and baby Jesuses... Standing before the image, we stand before Christ, and in his presence, “love pauses, contemplates mystery, and enjoys it in silence”. (#57)

Love pauses... These are the final days of Advent, when so many people are at their busiest. Churches are being decorated and prepared... food and final gifts being bought... suitcases are being packed in anticipation of journeys home... choirs and readers are rehearsing, while school terms end with final plays and parties... These are days filled with rushing about and busyness, merriment, tinsel and noise... And in the midst of all this activity, all this bustle and commotion, the Love which never stops or ceases invites me, invites us to pause, to contemplate mystery, and enjoy it in silence. 

In these final, frantic, too-full days, may our love and longing enable us to respond to this invitation, however brief our pauses might be...