Glimpse of God for the week of February 16^th, 2025

EAGLES!!!!! SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!!!!!!

Of course, what else would the topic be for this week?

The Eagles football team not only won the Superbowl this past weekend, but they also celebrated with thousands of their closest friends, otherwise known as avid Philadelphia Eagles fans. After playing their best game, February 9^th, will be remembered as one of unity, mutual support, determination and sportsmanship of both the players and fans of the city of Philadelphia, as well as nationwide. It has also been a source of great inspiration to all of Philadelphia; the avid sports fans as well as those who have been unexpectedly drawn in by the excitement and thrill of our very own football team achieving the greatest honor a football team can accomplish:  WINNING THE SUPERBOWL AND TAKING HOME THE VINCE LOMBARDI TROPHY.

The team played and interacted so well both on the field and off off the field. So many times, we have seen professional ball players be aloof to their fans or face legal issues, but this team is different. They personify the aspect of teamwork and supporting one another in good times and bad. They have fun and that is apparent in all of the news coverage and many

outreach programs they sponsor with a sense of love, compassion and empathy.

SO, as look back at the past week, the win, the snow, the parade, as well as Saint Valentine day, and possessing continuing bragging rights about it all, let us take time to thank God for the team that has represented His presence of being good role models of compassion, support, encouragement and selflessness to their fans, the city and those in need. But let us not lose sight of where God is, has been and will continue to be. He resides in the lives and hearts of all of us as His beloved children.  I believe that as you journey through the week  the various reflections will not only help you  grow as a more prayerful person, but will also help you to see that when one plays on a team, as a true teammate, a good role model, a mentor, these qualities shine through. We are all members of God's team. We are all members of the Christian faith that calls us to build each  other up, strengthen each other and see the good in each other. I believe that the Eagles strive to exemplify these qualities on and off the field.

SUNDAY, “E” = Empathetic

We are all called to extend empathy towards others. As followers of Christ and God’s beloved children, we are given the grace to walk with others through our care, concern, prayers and presence.

As you begin a new week, look to those in need, not to pity them, but rather to extend God’s compassion. Ask God to show you how you can be His instrument of empathy, care and kindheartedness and pray for the grace to respond. Empathy requires humility but rewards you with peace and spiritual fulfillment.

MONDAY “A” = Agile

Do you consider yourself agile? Have you ever considered yourself as being spiritually agile? To discover the answer to this question, I suggest that in your prayer, ask yourself and God if you are swift to answer His call or invitation  to be the best person that you can be, the person that He created you to be  and have the potential to become? Do you see yourself as one that is responsive to God’s call to serve Him by serving the needs of others? Does living out your faith come easily, are you on fire or do you feel as though your fire has become a little spark? Do you believe that God is with you, that He loves you unconditionally and that you are His beloved child? Can you imagine that He wants your spark to become a fire that draws others to want to know Him better through you?

For today, as you journey through the beginning of the workweek, ask God to increase your desire to be an instrument that draws others to Him. Ask for the grace to allow Him to take and make your sparks more like a great fire of love, faith and devotion, that draws other to love Him more dearly, see Him more clearly and follow Him more nearly in and through your example. 

TUESDAY, “G” = Grateful

Do you have a grateful heart? Do you find that you have much to be grateful for? Do you remember to thank God for the gift of the very next breath that you take, the gift of a new day, the gift of family and friends, colleagues and community that surround and embrace you, the gift of your crosses that have strengthened you, made you a better and more empathetic person and have drawn you closer to Christ, the gift that has been implanted in you of a deeper love and concern for others, for the gifts of mercy, compassion, forgiveness, peace and joy that being a follower of Christ has made you a recipient of?

In your prayer today, reflect on the gift of gratitude that God has given you. Pray always for a grateful heart and seek to spread that desire to others especially those who are struggling and cannot recognize any reason to be thankful or grateful. For today, as you encounter family, friends, coworkers, neighbors, community members and even the stranger, take time to sincerely thank them for some quality that you recognize in their presence that has made you appreciate them more and has allowed you see God more clearly in them.

WEDNESDAY, “L” = Loving

Do you think that you are a loving and kind person? What does it mean to be a loving person? Do you think that it means being perfect?  Being a loving person begins with desire and is complete with fulfillment. If one desires to be a loving person, a desire that can only originate with and from God, and seeks to follow through on that desire, can be a very loving person. Love is of God, finds its origin in God and grows only through God’s grace. In our sinful nature, that nature that Jesus died on the cross to redeem, God loved us into being and calls us to love in return. It is in our loving, that of God, self and others,

we grow in a habit to love, to seek the good in others, to forgive others, to reach out seeking forgiveness and to bind the wounds and be God’s healing instrument of love.

So today, as you communicate and interact with others, seek love. Look for love, that of the presence of God in those with whom you interact with and see how they interact with you.

Do they see the love of God within you, in your presence, surrounding you in and through your words, attitudes, actions, and deeds?

A truly loving person sees the positive before recognizing the negative, sees the good before pointing out the bad, recognizes and embraces that we are all God’s beloved sons and daughters, sinners as well, before judging and casting out.

For today, what the world needs now is love sweet love……..be that love today.

THURSDAY, “E” = Esteemed

It is tough to accept being esteemed by others. It seems more like an ago trip than a trip on humility highway. Yet as Christians, who truly seek to follow Christ and bring others to know Him better, we can be esteemed by others and that is not a bad quality, if it doesn’t go to one’s head. Who do you hold in high esteem? Why? Who holds you in high esteem? And why? For today, take a look at whom you hold in high esteem and look at the reasons?

If they are God centered, have brought you to know God better, and have helped you grow in your relationship with His Son and our Mother Mary, then thank God for such a great gift. If others hold you in true genuine God centered esteem, ask God to show you how you can improve, build on, grow in His love, the very love that has attracted others to Him through you.

FRIDAY, “S” = Selfless

Being selfless means being other centered and not selfish. It can be hard to be selfless when others seek to be more selfish and self-centered. One cannot be God centered if they are always looking at what they can get, acquire, own or have. God wants us to grow and become the best persons that we can be, the best person that He created us to be, and have the potential to become, but yet we get in the way of what God’s will is for us when we seek to have things our way and not His.

Jesus died on the cross for us. It was a free selfless act. He chose to die for us and when we suffer, when we are wounded, He is dying with us as we die to self.  When we unite our pain with His, when we choose not to be bitter, but rather to forgive, then we are being selfless. For today, look at the many ways that you are selfless: as a parent, as a spouse, as an employee, and ask God for the grace to grow in that humility and love that has placed His will first before any selfish will of yours.

SATURDAY, “1” = One

There is only 1 God, 1 you, 1 eagles team, and 1 chance for them to win the super bowl today.

We are all given special gifts and talents by God to be used to glorify and praise Him. Let us pray that the Eagles players continue to glorify God by being their best off season so that they can play their best next season. Being their best off season as they serve their community, focus on their faith, raising their family, being true to themselves and true to their God. We are all called to be team players and that involves cooperating, contributing to and allowing growth by not being the teacher, but rather the humble student.  We win when we see that we have become our best self, the person that God created us to be and seek to rise to our potential, and when we have helped others to recognize what their best self looks like, recognize that they are God’s beloved child so that they continue to seek to see the good in both teams during the low times and in the high times. For today, seek not to diminish the other team by mean and degrading words or behaviors, for when we do that we are not giving glory to God.

Remember: Your breath is your life, use it wisely. Your heart is big, fill it wisely. Your mind is open, expand it wisely. Your God is present, reverence Him wisely. You are God's temple, honor yourself wisely.