Glimpse of God for the week of March 8, 2026
A continuation of the Lenten Reflections:
LOVE ourselves and others, ………taken from LENT IS A TIME TO…
What does it mean to love yourself unconditionally? Does it mean not seeing your faults because your ego is so inflated that there is nothing that you cannot love about yourself less than totally or absolutely? or could it mean that despite your faults, or in light of your faults and sins, you accept them because you are able to recognize that that God forgives you, knows your love for Him is deeper and that you want to choose to grow it that love despite any bad choices? If we choose not to love our self, we cannot love others or love God. Love comes from within, and it is within our heart that God dwells with His compassion, mercy, joy, happiness, and peace. How we choose to share those gifts is how we choose to love.
Do you love yourself unconditionally or do you find fault with who you are, do you look at your imperfections, sins, weaknesses, faults, with your eyes wide open, and judge yourself unworthy of being loved by God or others? or can you see yourself as God sees you? HE sees you and loves you totally, without reserve and completely, and that means He sees all and sees past the negative. He sees your heart and what fills it, and all He sees is love: your love for Him, others, and self, imperfect though it is, it is the love that emerges from your desire to be in a deeper relationship with Him so that you and grow in love with Him, self, and others. What would it look like or mean to love yourself unconditionally, after all God loves you unconditionally and He knows all about you, He knows your heart better than you know it yourself, and cannot love you less than unconditional, eternal, complete, and without exception?
Parents choose to love their children unconditionally. They choose to unconditionally love those that they have been given the grace to conceive, raise, and love into the world, with complete and unconditional love. The seed of love that only God can and does sow in their minds, hearts, and spirits, and as they share that love, the seed continues to cause growth and the beauty of love flourishes.
Can you love those who have hurt you, that you do not like or who do not like you? Love conquers all, do you recognize that in the people, events, and situations that have challenged your ability to love and not hate, to forgive and not hold a grudge, to be reconciled and not remain estranged, they have made you the courageous and better person that you are, and that evil has not conquered your love, but has built it up and made it stronger?
What does it mean to you to be selfless and not selfish? To be other centered and not self-centered? Do you feel that you get lost as you focus on others, or do you find a renewed sense of self in love and God, as you walk with others in their moments of pain, experiences of suffering, and joyful celebrations?
This week as we enter another week of lent, a time of prayer, personal conversion, and transformation, as we turn away from sin and choose to be faithful to the Gospel and the God who loves us unconditionally, let us recognize that God calls us in love, and out of love, to seek His will and become our best self, the person that He created us to be and have the potential to become.
SUNDAY – “T” Trusting
What does it mean to trust as you choose to love? Not looking back on old messages, but on the truth that God loves you unconditionally. Who do you trust to show you the truth of God’s message of unconditional, complete, and absolute love for you? parents, family, church community, leaders of the Church, friends, and co-workers? And who looks up to you to point them in direction of the truth of God’s unconditional love? Choose to seek the truth with the eyes of love and keep them open, so that the eyes of distrust can remain closed.
MONDAY – “O” Other centered
As you choose to love, turn away from sin, and towards God, how other centered are you? As we choose to look to the needs and concerns of others, as we become more selfless and less selfish, the love of God is taking root and we are becoming a new creation, growing in the unconditional love of self and acceptance of others. Do you recognize that God is constantly making you a new creation with every beat of your heart that chooses to love and not hate, every word that springs forth as the breath of God that chooses to forgive and not tear down, and every time you choose to walk with another in their shoes, not judging but walking with compassion, love, and acceptance?
TUESDAY – “W” Without reserve
Without reserve or restriction? What does that look like and how can that become a greater aspect of your loving yourself, others, and God? To place no restrictions on your love? How hard is that especially when it is difficult to love someone that does not like you, or that you do not like? Only with God’s grace can we overcome placing restrictions or conditions on our imperfect love. Only with God’s grace can we choose to love despite our desire to hate, hold a grudge or not forgive. Choose to live in the truth and grace of God’s love so that you do not fall into the grave of the devil’s lies.
WEDNESDAY – “A” Accepting
Have you, can you, accept your weaknesses and love yourself unconditionally? Can you accept that God loves you so much because you are His beloved child, loved unconditionally, His greatest creation and that there is absolutely nothing that you can say or do that can make Him love you less? This is the truth of God, believe it, live in it, and it will set you free.
THURSDAY – “R” Reverent
In light of your baptism, you have been blessed by God, called by name, and as you were immersed into the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, you burst forth, you emerged as a new creation, one set apart by God to give him glory and honor. You are blessed and therefore you should reverence the very person that you are as God does. What does it mean to reverence yourself? Could it mean that you forgive yourself, not see just bad choices that you made, but seek to recognize the greater good that possesses you and that you possess, can it mean reverencing others, that you forgive others as fellow sinners striving to become saints, and we need each other to build up the Kingdom of God, can you reverence them as God’s beloved child as God does? Go forth in reverence and not backwards in rejection.
FRIDAY – “D” Determined
As we continue our Lenten journey, is lent bringing you a sense of a greater self-determination or less? Are personal fears causing you to fall back on, or driving you to, a greater self determination to change, seek His will and guidance? Are you resolving each and every day to turn away from sin and towards God? If so, that is all He asks of you, so you are on the right track. Do not give up or give in but seek to recognize the graces that have transformed you into the strong person that you are and have become through your self-determination, self-conviction and steadfastness. Demand to be determined and not be determined to be in command.
SATURDAY – “S” Selfless
Choose to be selfless and not selfish and the fruits of your choice will be those of compassion, peace, joy, happiness, forgiveness, love, acceptance, truth, and not the pits of discord, injury, hurt, hatred, darkness, and pain. Be fruitful and multiply, and not fruitless and in a pit.
glimpse of God for the week oF March 2, 2026
SURRENDER those things that keep us from being the person that God has created us to be and keep us from becoming the person that He knows we can be, those things that are standing in the way of our seeing Christ more clearly in our self and in others, in life’s challenges and in our crosses. LENT IS NOT A TIME TO GIVE UP and think that we can’t do what God knows we can and invites us to believe that we can and that we, with His help, will.
STRETCH OURSELVES: our imaginations, our minds, our spiritual comfort zone and our hearts. We need to stretch so that we can see ourselves accomplishing and overcoming the hardest challenges that face us, but we think will defeat us. We need to allow God to stretch that which is set and confined so that HE can reset, reform us into His image.
LOVE ourselves and others, especially those who don’t like us, and to HATE those things that take us away from God and make us want to be more self-centered and selfish instead of being more Christ centered and self-less.
FORGIVE and not to be bitter. We are called to forgive ourselves and others and not hold on to the past of bad choices, deep hurts and poor decisions. Only in true forgiveness can we experience genuine and lasting freedom so that we can be the beacon of Christ’s mercy, love and compassion for our self and to others.
"Forgive them for they know not what they do”
BE STILL so that you can feel the gentle breeze of God’s Spirit as He touches your heart a
and opens it to His healing love and deep abiding peace.
NOT BE BUSY just for the sake of being busy or to run from anything. Lent is a time to listen as God tells you that there is only one thing that matters to Him. That you know and believe with all your heart that you are His greatest creation, His beloved son or daughter, that He loves you just as you are,
and that His love for you is free, unconditional and everlasting.
LOOK OUT THE WINDOW and see and appreciate His presence in all of His creation; the sun, the moon, the stars, the grass, the creatures that crawl about and those that hover over, the people that we know and the stranger that we pass by, the beauty of the day, the beauty in the hearts of those that care about us
and the beauty of a God who cares even more for you.
BUT IT IS NOT A TIME TO LOOK IN THE MIRROR if you are looking to point out your sins, your flaws, your weaknesses or your shortcomings, but only if you are looking to remind yourself that you are loved by God just as you are because His love is much greater than all of these. His death is a reminder that He sees all that you see, but He looks into the depth of your heart to see that which you have not begun to.
AS LENT progresses, and you find yourself asking, “Am I growing in my relationship to Christ, or how have I been a reflection of His presence in my life to others”? As you look back and recall how you found yourself helping others and giving of your time, talent and compassion, know that your desire is in response to God’s grace, so trust in God and believe that you are closer to Him than you think.
We measure our progress and that of others with human expectations and limitations, but God looks into the very heart that He created and sees its width, its depth, its woundedness, its potential and fills it with His compassion, His mercy, His peace and His grace so that we can be the best loving person that we can be.
You are what He wants you to be, for you can be nothing less.
What you are is God’s gift given in love and out of love, what you become is your gift to God.
As I reflect on what Lent can be for each one of us in the upcoming weeks of lent, I hope to elaborate on the various paragraphs of above, lent is a time to, with just having surgery,
I hope that I do not condense things too much but rather offer enough to spiritual food to chew on, that is not difficult to swallow and easy to digest,
but if you find it difficult to digest, that you seek the only GI physician (God’s Intervention) for healing.
Paragraph 1 was SURRENDER those things that keep us from being the person that God has created us to be and keep us from becoming the person that He knows we can be, those things that are standing in the way of our seeing Christ more clearly in our self and in others, in life’s challenges and in our crosses. LENT IS NOT A TIME TO GIVE UP and think that we cannot do what God knows we can and invites us to believe that we can and that we, with His help, will.
Paragraph 2 was STRETCH OURSELVES
This week I will reflect on the second paragraph of what Lent is or can become and it begins with STRETCH OURSELVES: our imaginations, our minds, our spiritual comfort zone, and our hearts. We need to stretch so that we can see ourselves accomplishing and overcoming the hardest challenges that face us, but we think will defeat us. We need to allow God to stretch that which is set and confined so that HE can reset, reform, and reshape us into a better reflection of His image.
So, as we enter a new week of Lent, what does it mean to stretch, be stretched, or undergo stretching? what do we desire or want to be stretched?
According to Marriam Webster: to stretch is to draw up (one’s body) from a cramped, stooped, or relaxed position.” To be stretched can mean that one is broadened, unfolded, expanded, and extended. To undergo the act of stretching involves the action of straightening, widening, and enlarging.
So, as we stretch our spiritual comfort zone, and are stretched beyond our imaginings, has the act of stretching made you a better witness to Christ, are you being transformed by the act of stretching, and do you, can you recognize that as you stretch your spiritual comfort zone, it is an opportunity for you to invite God in so that He can fill you with His many graces and blessings?
As you have been expanded, transformed and reformed into a better reflection of His presence, love, compassion and mercy, are you grateful to be stretched? Or do you want to return to being cramped, in a stooped position and so relaxed that you do not want to grow or experience personal and spiritual transformation?
During Lent and every day, I believe that God invites us to stretch and be stretched in our spiritual life so that He can fill with His graces and blessings, expand our understanding of how He is calling us to be our best self, the person that He created us to be and have the potential to become, and stand up to what we believe and truly desire, and not and not be so relaxed in our life that we ignore the need to grow in our spiritual relationship with God, others and self.
So, my question to you is what does it mean to be stretched out of your comfort zone? What comfort zone needs to be stretched the most? Is it your spiritual life where you recognize that you have been on the lazy side of your personal and community prayer, your time and your communication with God have been less than what you would like, your idea of serving others make you feel exhausted?
Are you afraid of what God may have in store for you and that your fear keeps you still and less open to Him? Is it your love life where your heart is broken due to injuries imposed on it by others? Has a relationship been broken beyond repair? Are you experiencing a hurt that has caused you to become bitter and vengeful instead of forgiving? Is y our heart a vessel with many cracks and you desire to be healed and mended? God can stretch your heart where you can forgive, feel new, whole, and healed. Are you ready to be stretched to experience those graceful and grace filled moments? Is it your physical wellbeing, where you recognize that you need to take better care of yourself, but are afraid to change your habits and are too tired to initiate any change? God has an excellent spiritual exercise program that can make you feel better and live healthier. It includes prayer pushups where you can place your prayers before God and truly ask that they be answered according to His will and desire, knee bends where you can kneel before the God who loves you and tell Him how much you love Him and desire to serve Him better, walking so that you can place one foot in front of the other at His pace and not yours, Sit ups so that you can take notice of what and how God is acting in your life with a clearer vision and direction and lying flat on your back so that you can allow God to enter into your very being from the top of your head to your tippy toes. Let Him enter through your hands of service that have helped carry the crosses of others, to your heart of love, that has forgiven and sought to heal the brokenness and woundedness around you, to your feet that have walked in another’s shoes, to your senses that have seen, heard, and listened to the stories of those who were hurting and in need of experiencing the presence of God in their life through you. There is nothing that God cannot do if we are open and willing to experience His many forms of surprises that He choose and wants to give us.
Being stretched by God is not meant to be an experience where you think that God is not pleased with you or that you have disappointed Him, but rather an experience where He not only recognizes that you are open to His will and desire, but also that you seek Him so that you can grow and become your better self, the person that He created you to be, and that He knows you have the potential to become despite any and all obstacles.
Once you feel that God is stretching you to become a better, healthier, healed, more whole person living in His love and light and being a beacon of that love and light, then you will have come to recognize the graces that not only have enhanced your spiritual life, but also your personal, physical, professional, and psychological life.
This week let us allow God to stretch us as He sees we need to be stretched and let us commit to remaining open and not wanting to return to being closed, left in a cramped position, or stooped in shame, guilt or weakness.
SUNDAY – “S” – be stretched with inner strength. Today I seek to be renewed with inner strength because….
MONDAY – “T” – be stretched with trust. Today, as I am stretched, I hope to grow in trust, and less in fear,….
TUESDAY – “R” – be stretched with resolve. Today, I resolve to be more forgiving, understanding, loving, compassionate…..
WEDNESDAY – “E” – be stretched with empathy. Today, as I am stretched, I will seek to be more empathetic towards….
THURSDAY – ‘T” – be stretched with totality of intention. Today, I will allow God to stretch me completely and not put limits or restrictions on what He knows I needs to experience…..
FRIDAY – “C” be stretched with compassion. Today, I will try to be more compassionate with myself and others as I experience the grace of conversion, transformation, and renewal through being stretched as God knows I need to be.
SATURDAY – “H” be stretched with happiness. Today, I choose to be happy in the Lord, and happy with myself and others. I know that we are all being called to be stretched. As Mary and Joseph said Yes to God and allowed themselves to be stretched beyond their imaginings, my surrender to God and being stretched has allowed me to feel freer and more flexible, less confined, and no longer stooped in shame or guilt.
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