Tell Them I Delight in Them

Isn’t it funny how sometimes God really surprises you, almost to the point that you shake your head and laugh out loud? This is what happened to me in mass just yesterday as I was preparing to write this blog. I had just told the Lord I had no idea what He wanted me to tell you and that I needed the Holy Spirit to assist me because I had been pondering all week several ideas on a variety of topics. That’s when I heard loud and clear, “tell them I delight in them!” Then, during the first reading of the mass these words of Isaiah 62: 4-5 were spoken:

“You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate; but you shall be called My delight is in her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married. For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you, and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall your God rejoice over you.”

The Holy Spirit does this to me periodically. I ask, and He answers me with a two-by-four to my soul. My immediate response is always to laugh and say “God, you are so funny!” He knows I need it to be simple, loud, and clear.

I have recently had the privilege of being in the presence of couples who are falling in love. There is excitement in the air: it’s almost palpable. The couples long to be in each other’s presence, to share time together. Their elation in getting to know each other soul-deep is obvious to friends and family. Their eagerness in speaking of the other animates the person, and overflows to others. It’s a pleasure to watch this mutual and joy-filled dance of love. This glance of the lovers, who are delighting in their beloved, is a holy and soul- deep exchange and it’s an icon of God’s love for us.

God is telling us this today. He delights in us. He entered the dance with us when we were conceived and He wants us to partner with Him. He created us, body and soul, and knows us totally and perfectly for He is perfection personified. He not only loves us individually, but also collectively as the church, His Bride. His love for us was so deep, so profound, that He went to the cross and died for us, so that we could share in the wedding banquet with Him for all of eternity. Imagine if you will what it will be like to be in the presence of the Eternal Bridegroom, at the wedding feast, forever. God, looking at us with the glance of the Eternal lover, delighting in us, and our delighting in Him. Well, it’s enough to overwhelm my soul.

Let us all intentionally and mindfully learn to live in this glance of the Eternal Lovers, this mutual dance of love and joy. When we do, our elation will affect the kingdom of God.

Karen Baglieri

Member of the Sisterhood of Mary, Mystical Rose of God