Deep within the womb of the virgin mother, the heartbeat of the unborn child Jesus is beating. We listen to its gentle rhythm as the holy couple continues their journey toward Bethlehem: “lub-dub-lub-dub” In the silence, the infant-God has his own thoughts: He recalls creation of the universe, the history of the chosen people, the destinies of nations. He foresees our own existence, our families’ destinies. He views each and every person and each of their lives: past, present, future. You. Me. “lub-dub-lub-dub” Mary and Joseph walk on. Bethlehem is on the horizon. The chosen people await their redeemer. He is come.
We, too, wait. This Child has plans for our future: for our welfare and not for our woe. Each pending circumstance of our life for this advent, for Christmas, for the coming year, is weighed in the wisdom of that silent womb. Do we trust this wisdom? Do we listen carefully in the star-studded night to the message of the almost imperceptible heartbeat? Our own Bethlehem is on the horizon: situations, some unresolved, some unforeseen, some joyful, some tragic – are all revealed to the secret gaze of his sleeping slumber in his mother’s womb. Our daily tasks and temptations and trials and triumphs – those, too, are the subject of his contemplation and the recipients of his graces. Will we respond? Are we childlike enough to entrust the great and minute decisions of the next moment of our life to the inspirations of his beating infant heart?
Advent. Waiting. Listening to a tiny heartbeat. Watching for a star. We await our redeemer. He is come.
