I become a total hippie mystic when I am outside. If you
raise your eyes and look at the sky sometimes it literally stuns you. Walks are
never very productive exercise for me because I spend most of them totally
captivated by the sky. The clouds, colors, magnitude… the wind blows and lifts
your soul to Heaven for an instant as you allow the God of all Creation to love
you. As your bustling falls still, you have now learned how to rest. How
to breathe in the delights of Jesus, who speaks secrets and personal intimacies
to your heart alone in these moments.
You have dipped your tootsies into the pool of “Stop fighting Jesus and
let Him freakin love you”.
This is hard to do. To let the Creator of your soul love
you. That’s about as vulnerable, naked, and raw as you can get. To let the God
and Man who sees every twisted, manipulative, messed up, disgusting,
embarrassing, annoying, shameful thing that you have ever done or thought about
truly LOVE you, truly SEE you. Yikes. Think about that… that’s insane. That
doesn’t make sense… and honestly it freaks me the hell out. What kind of God,
what kind of person who could see behind my facades, calloused heart, and false
identities would still show me Divine Mercy? Mercy… a love and compassion that
is all encompassing. He has redeemed and freed every part of our souls.
Think about that…
Truly let that sink in…
The word used for “let that sink in” in the Psalms is
“selah”. I am a lover of words and in high school this word captivated me. It
is used 71 times in the Psalms, yet the meaning is debated and the word itself
is mostly just skipped over. But it is beautiful! Even in the elegance of the
sound of the word itself… “Selah”… ahh…
Then the meaning?
A few different interpretations…
-In Hebrew “selah” means “fiat” = let there be… forever (Mary
said “her fiat” when she agreed to be the mother of our Lord = “Be it done to
me according to Your word” (Luke 1:38))
-Cues the person reading the text aloud to pause for
reflection
-Used in praise as being “the highest form of praise man is
able to give”
-Selah means what we know Amen to mean = “It is true”
-A musical term meaning that there is a pause in the music
So Selah, in my combination translation, means… to be still,
pause, and reflect on what deserves praise and say let this goodness be
forever.
“My home is by Your altars, Lord of hosts, my King and my
God… Selah” (Psalm 84:4).
Selah all over that!
MY HOME IS BY YOUR ALTARS, LORD OF HOSTS!
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have words of eternal life” (John 6:68). My home is by Your altars…
Bl. Chiara Badano was a girl who died at age 18 in Italy in the 90s. She loved tennis, loved her friends, and loved Jesus. She was nicknamed “Luce” by a good friend because she was her “Light and Joy”. This friend wrote, “‘Chiara Luce’ (Light) is the name I have chosen for you. Do you like it? The light of God overcomes the world!” Light brings forth life. Think of most plants… they grow upward so their leaves can be exposed to more light so they can live. “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:4). One of Chiara’s doctors who treated her bone cancer said, “Since I have met Chiara, something has changed inside me. There is coherence here and I can understand Christianity.” Does the light in our souls bring forth life like that? Where something would change inside a person after being in my presence that they would know goodness and Christ and find the FULLNESS OF LIFE, the LIGHT OF LIFE. That my presence would exude Jesus' presence.
 | |||
| Bl. Chiara "Luce" Badano (below: Her joy while she was in the hospital | for her bone cancer.) |
My prayer is that we would not be
afraid to step back from the chaos and enter into this “Selah Luce”.
Selah Luce… To be still and reflect on
the light of life so that it can be praised.
Where is the light? Take a second to
recount your day… where was there light and something deserving praise?
How do you concretely trust in God = you
praise Him and thank Him.
Why? Praise and thanks recalls the good
things the Lord has done so you remember how constant, faithful, and good He is. To
“offer up a sacrifice of praise to God” (Hebrews 13:15).
A SACRIFICE of praise…
implying that sometimes praise is extremely hard to do.
Praise is the secret to giving
light… which brings forth life... which is only actualized in Jesus Christ.
Spend your life in Selah Luce.
Joy in stillness.
While the Father holds us, let us not
squirm out of His arms. Instead, let us know ourselves as His beloved daughters and
sons… so that when the Father holds us, we might be still, pause, and
reflect on what deserves praise and say let this goodness be forever.
“Tremble, and do not sin; Meditate in
your heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.”
(Psalm 4:4)
In my joyful stillness, my Selah Luce, these people are some of whom I am praising and thanking the Father for allowing me the honor of knowing. They make me want to be holier... Blessed be the hands that bring me to the Eucharist and and the souls that teach me how to go deeper into the heart of Jesus.
Be His.
In His Most Sweet and Sacred Heart,
Stephanie
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