A lot in his Heart

I was out in another part of West London doing some shopping this afternoon. There's a church on the main road which is usually open for prayer, so I stopped there for a while. There is so much in our sorry world in need of prayer: so much that is angry and dark, hopeless and unjust and wrong - just wrong - that it feels like too much to try making sense of. I sat near the Sacred Heart, who, I felt, was looking especially sombre. I expect you've got a lot on your mind... I murmured, to which the reply came: Yes; and a lot more in my Heart...

And not for the first time, I was glad to know that there is a space, wider and deeper and stronger than the world; a space where there is plenty of room for all our pain and anger and despair. A space, a wide-open Heart, to which I can bring the brokenness and sickness and wounds of our world, and of those I care about (including, right now, Pope Francis), for healing and restoration, and simple, much-needed tenderness and love. A Heart-space to which I don't need to try bringing sense, or even coherent words - a gesture, an intimation of bleakness and confusion more than suffices.

Yes, there is a lot in the world to bring to and hold in Jesus' Heart... and in there, spacious and ever-widening, there is always room for more.