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Glimpse of God for the week of May 3, 2026

Usually, my Glimpse of God is about how, where, or through whom, I have been given the grace to see God more clearly. The view can be as quick as a glimpse or as long as a stare. Yet. it is through God's grace that I am able to recognize His presence in all things; in the ordinary and in the extraordinary, people, places, circumstances, and events that I encounter.

To recognize the presence of God in a greater way with more clarity and understanding, it takes not only one’s eyes, but also all of the senses as well as with an open heart and mind.  Altogether, I am able to recognize God's glimpses, maybe not all of them, but many, in the course of the day.

I believe that we are all given the graces to recognize His presence in the many ways that He chooses to reveal Himself. I also believe that like any parent, He wants us to know that He is always with us even when we can't seem to see or hear Him.  The greatest way that He reveals himself is through the sacraments of the Church, especially the Eucharist, through Sacred Scripture and each other.  But as members of the Body of Christ, God chooses and uses us to be His presence in the world.  Every time we look into the mirror, we are looking at a Glimpse of God.  We are a glimpse of His light in a dark world, His voice when others are silenced, His consolation when suffering is inconsolable, His eyes to see to the heart of others, His heart that extends his mercy and compassion, and His peace when discord abounds. Sinful though we are, God knows that we are striving to be our best self, the person that He created us to be and have the potential to become, and yet as sinners striving to become saints, we often miss the mark, and yet He continues to call us to reach our potential.

So for this week's daily reflections, I am suggesting that we take each day and try to be more aware of how God chooses to reveal Himself to us through our senses and how He chooses to use us to be His glimpse to others. As you walk through the week and reflect on your senses, do not focus on any cataracts, clogged ears, sinus congestion, arthritis, bunions, or laryngitis, but rather on the person that God created, sees and adores every day: the unique and special YOU. 

SUNDAY - SEEING WITH THE EYES OF YOUR HEART

What do you see first in the morning when you awake from sleep? Do you see God? Is He disguised as a child, a spouse, a garden, the gentle rains, or a beautiful sunrise? Is your vision clear or double, dry eye or teary eyed? Does seeing God bring clarity to the beauty that surrounds you?

God created all things and yes, He created you and me. We are His greatest creation? Do you, can you, see that as you look into the mirror? However, you wake up to see God, He is still God and His love is and will always be perfect, unconditional, and free. Today, thank God for the gift of your eyes just as they are.  

MONDAY - HEARING AND LISTENING WITH THE EARS OF YOUR HEART

What do you hear, how well do you listen? I believe that we hear with our ears and listen with our hearts. Do you hear a lot of noise or nothing at all? Do you hear the cries of your children, the requests of your family, your community members outside your room? Can you take the time to listen to the cries of the poor, the hungry, the elderly, the forgotten? Do you hear the front door closing, and can you take time to listen as the doors close to strangers, to the homeless? Do you hear your family begging for your attention, and can you take time to listen to their need to feel and be loved? Do you think that God hears your prayers, and can you take time to listen as He responds to them, even when and if the answer is not what you prayed for,

thank God for the gift of your ears just as they are. 

TUESDAY - RECOGNIZING THE SCENTS AND AROMAS IN YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCES

What smells or aromas do you remember as a child? Do they bring back happy memories or painful ones? Do you remember the smells, scents that surrounded your house as your mom baked cookies or cooked a meal? Do you recall the smell of your dad’s after shave or your mom’s cologne that indicated that you were happy because they were home? Can you recall how the various smells or aromas were a part of your life experiences and made them so significant? Today, thank God for the gift of your nose just as it is.

WEDNESDAY - TOUCHING OTHERS BY OUR HANDS IN PEACE AND PRAYER

How are your hands the hands of Christ? Do you offer up your prayers for those in need, or do you blame them for their situation? Do you extend your hands in peace and reconciliation, or do you clasp them shut in anger or bitterness? Do you pray with your hands and arms extended and open so that you can receive God’s blessings, or do you close them in despair or discouragement? Can you recall how you felt when another offered you peace and mercy through a handshake? Can you remember how you felt when you extended peace to someone that hurt you badly? Can you allow yourself to be embraced by God as He looks happily on you and the joy that He has in you?

Today, thank God for the gift of your hands just as they are.

THURSDAY - WALKING WITH OTHERS IN THEIR SHOES

It is tough to walk in the shoes of another. We can be as empathetic as possible, but we can never walk completely in the shoes of another, nor can they walk in ours. Our feet have walked miles and will walk many more as we continue our earthly journey. We can use our feet to walk or say stuck, to run for a cause or have no cause to run for. In any case, the ground that we walk on, no matter where or with whom, is holy ground. It is God’s ground and we have been given the gift of being able to walk on it. The challenge that comes with that gift is that we are invited to help others walk with God so that they can also experience His powerful and unconditional love for them. How have your feet been an instrument of empathy and strength for you and others?

Today, thank God for the gift of your feet just as they are. 

 FRIDAY - BEING GOD'S VOICE WHEN OTHERS ARE SILENCED

How are you the breath and voice of God? Do you speak up when others; victims, children, the forgotten, the elderly, the most vulnerable in society, can’t? Do you stand up for what you believe; the gospel message, or do you fall for whatever sounds good to you at the time? Do you offer words of mercy and forgiveness or judgment and contempt? Are you familiar with the words “I am sorry” and “I forgive you”? or do you avoid them by making excuses for bad choices and behaviors? Can you hear, do you listen, as God tells you how much He loves you, how He adores you, how you are His beloved and that He forgives you?

Today, thank God for the gift of your voice just as it is.

 SATURDAY - LOVING OTHERS BY EXTENDING GOD'S MERCY AND COMPASSION

How big is your heart? Is there room for it to continue to grow in love for God, self and others? Who has helped you grow in love for God? Have life experiences made your heart whole or is it broken?  Can you allow God to heal the brokenness so that you can become whole and healed? How have you allowed others: Your spouse, your children, your parents, members of your community, to grow in God’s love for them by your words, example and prayers?  Today, thank God for the gift of your heart just as it is.

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Last week, we reflected on the spiritual characteristics of Saint Francis and how we are all able to reflect His spirituality in, by and through our actions, attitudes, words and deeds. This week I am offering abbreviated daily reflections to enable you to see how you do reflect the gentle, loving, joyful, peace filled nature of Christ, as did Saint Francis and the Sisters of Saint Francis. As followers of Christ, and lovers of certain saints and their spirituality, I believe that this is God’s way to draw us nearer to Himself as we gain insight and knowledge of His chosen followers and their unique spiritual characteristics that shine a greater light on their God as they see and understand Him.

SUNDAY – “J” – JOYFUL - The feelings expressed or a causing of immense pleasure and happiness.

Are you a joyful person? What brings you joy? What takes away your joy? Joy is not a fleeting gift from God, but one that is planted with deep roots. It is up to us; we can choose to cultivate it or ignore it. We can be a joyful person despite the challenges that come our way, or we can allow them to make us bitter and unhappy. 

For today, take time to look at the various events, people, circumstances that bring or have brought you joy, as well as when you were the cause of joy for someone and how it made you feel and offer a prayer of gratitude.  

MONDAY – “U” - UNIQUE - Someone or something that is unlike anything or anyone else and incredibly special.

Do you see yourself as a unique individual? Do you recognize that you have been given extraordinary gifts and talents by God that make you who you are and the special person that you are? God sees you as unique, special and He calls you, His beloved. Can you allow yourself to be loved by God?

It is a gift to be different and not blend in with everyone. God has created you to be you and not anyone else. There will never be another you. There will never be another heart like yours, another spirit like yours another soul like yours. You are created as uniquely as God creates. Do you like who you are, or do you try to be someone else? Can you allow God to love you and show you how special and unique you are and that you are gift? 

For today, look in the mirror and begin to identify your uniqueness, your giftedness by God, what makes you special, intellectually, physically, or emotionally, what makes you stand out from the crowd, what people notice about you. Honor and reverence who you are and recognize that God created you and wants you to see how special you are to Him and all those in your life.  

TUESDAY – “B” – BOUNTIFUL - Giving generously, unselfishly openhanded.

We all have opportunities to give generously of our selves: by being present to another as we listen and words are not necessary, by offering our prayers to those who are seeking to feel God’s presence, by lending a hand to someone who is need, and by lifting up one who has fallen by our showing of compassion, mercy and understanding. For today, look at how bountiful you have been and how others have been bountiful in your life. Ask God for the grace to continue to extend yourself to those in need, be it spiritual, physical, or emotional and thank Him for those who He has sent to you when you needed them most and, in some cases didn’t realize it.  

WEDNESDAY – “I’ – INTUITIVE - Having the ability to understand things without any proof.

The prayer of Saint Francis can be a prayer of intuitiveness because it is in the prayer where we identify those areas that are “off”, hatred, doubt, despair, darkness, and we want to make right with God’s love, pardon, faith, hope. We want to make right what we spiritually intuit to be bringing us away from the Lord. We might not be able to identify the exact moments where we have fallen to hatred or how we have doubted God or the how or why we gave into despair, but we sense deep within that something is not right, and we want to change. Hatred, injury, doubt, despair, discord, darkness, sadness, can permeate our very being, but it is the desire to bring forth love, pardon, faith, hope, truth, light, joy, understanding, and consolation that enables us to act in a positive way toward others before the weakness of sin wins.

For today, slowly pray the Prayer of Saint Francis and pray for the grace to identify one aspect in your life that you want to change, or that needs healing or has been healed. 

THURSDAY – “L” – LOVING - Feeling or showing love or great care.

The Sisters have lived their life showing great love for all those that God has placed in their care. We all have the potential to be loving people, yet there are times when our love is overshadowed by hate, our compassion is overshadowed by rash and harsh judgment, and our mercy is overshadowed by bitterness. Yet in an instant, we can change and be loving and better people. We just need to ask God for His help and His grace. 

For today, ask for His grace to let go of those dispositions, attitudes, actions, judgments that make you unloving, and ask to be filled with the gifts of the Holy Spirit that will make you become the best person that you can be, the person that God created you to be, and have the potential to become.

Your best self is a loving self a giving self, continue to share your gift of self with those whose best self might be overshadowed by self-doubt, sin, shame, or unnecessary guilt. 

FRIDAY – “E” – EFFUSIVE – Expressing a feeling of gratitude pleasure in a heartfelt matter.

The celebration of the Mass is an act of thanksgiving. We come together to give thanks and to celebrate as a community the great love of Jesus as He gives us His Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist. We are the Body of Christ. We are commissioned to be the hands, feet, voice, eyes, and ears of Christ in our families, our church, our neighborhoods, our community, our workplace, with those we know and the stranger, the outcast and the forgotten, the humble and the proud. We are all called to build the Kingdom of God here on earth. When we possess a spirit of gratitude, we can build the Kingdom without being restricted, where there are no walls only open spaces. 

For today, express your gratitude to those who need to hear it. If it is God, pray it, if it is to a family member, say it, but just don’t let it go. 

SATURDAY – “E” – ENDEARING – Inspiring love or affection and sharing it.

Do you inspire love or affection, or do you shy away from it?  God draws us to love; to be love and to share love, just not to hold onto love. 

For today, as you prepare for the weekend, think of how you have inspired love and how you have shared that love for God, others, and self. Remember to pray for those who have inspired love for the stranger by placing their lives in harm’s way; our military, police, fire, All these individuals give of themselves because they were inspired by the love and selfless actions of another. We might not be called to go out and minister to another who is carrying so great a cross, but the person sitting next to us at home, in the restaurant, on the train or bus, the next person that we welcome in our home, the stranger that we see walking  down the street, we can all give the selfless act of love by sending a prayer to God on their behalf, since only God knows their heart and the cross they carry, our prayer made  in and out of love can make their burden a little lighter.