GLIMPSE OF GOD 3.22.26

GLIMPSE OF GOD FOR THE WEEK OF MARCH 22, 2026

I apologize for not getting a glimpse to you last week, I was in the hospital. This is a  continuation of the Lenten reflection……….Lent is a time to….

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.  "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do”.

This week’s Glimpse of God is not one that will consist of a daily reflection, but rather a reflection on the act of forgiveness and how we partake of that act both for ourselves, and others.

Do we allow God to forgive us, do we allow others to forgive us? do we forgive others? but most important do we forgive ourselves? To forgive, to be forgiven, God’s grace and peace is alive and well.

I believe the two hardest phrases to say are “I am Sorry” and “I forgive you”. Both indicate an action by a person to admit to a wrongdoing and how it has caused injury to another and seek their forgiveness, or to forgive another who has caused them injury and then to let it go and never bring it back up. Forgiveness is not an act that one does because it sounds like a good idea at the time or is cool, but because deep inside they realized that they have either caused injury or they have been injured, and there is a humble need to p    ardon or seek pardon so that the peace, reconciliation, and love can prevail.

To seek forgiveness and to offer forgiveness, is an act of the will, but forgiveness is not yet experienced. The act and desire to forgive and seek forgiveness is a gift from God. That gift and grace that God invites one to receive and be held accountable for is one that sets a person free and allows them to share the gift of true freedom with another. As we seek to forgive or be forgiven, we can pray the words of Jesus on the cross, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. When we sin, we often do not see the choice for what it really was or is. We give into temptation and only afterwards are we able to recognize that the devil duped us, and we got duped. We are like the other person and therefor need to be seen as God sees them and not just how we want to see them with blinders on, with bitterness, with hatred, or with fury, but perhaps with the eyes of compassion, understanding, love and openness.  

As I reflect on our Lenten journey and how we are deeply immersed in acts of prayer, penance and alms giving, as well as a conscious choice of turning away from sin and being faithful to the Gospel, I hope that you are having a spiritually rewarding Lenten journey, one of personal and spiritual transformation, renewal, and a restoration.

As I reflect on forgiveness and this week’s glimpse, I pose the question: Who is the hardest person to forgive? Is it “God”, “the Other” or “yourself”? Who do you beat up more often over bad choices, deep hurt, poor decisions, or sins of omission? You can beat others up by your choice to ignore them, criticize them, reject them, taunt them, and isolate them, your act of silence can devastate them, and your cruel words can destroy them, yet we can all find ways to point out another’s sin by the way we respond to them.

So how are you and I any different when it comes to forgiving ourselves?

I believe that like the gift of love, if we do not have it for ourselves, we cannot love another, if we fail to truly forgive ourselves, we cannot truly forgive another.  

Forgiveness for ourselves is God’s will for us. He wants us to experience the peace and the joy that comes from being reconciled with Him and others, after we recognize our sin and express sorrow for it.

He knows our heart better than we do, and so He knows that our heart’s desire was not to stray or walk away. But we fell short of following our heart’s true desire of making the right choice and following God’s direction, and decided to either take a short cut, walk on the side of the road, head backwards or just stood still.  

He forgives us and we are called to forgive ourselves so that we can truly forgive another. If we fail to forgive ourselves, we make God a liar, His truth has no room in our heart, and we stand as a hypocrite. Christ died on the cross, but before that, He suffered His cruel and bitter passion. He suffered and died for our sins, all of ours, all of humankind, not just the other persons.

If He chose, and He did, to endure all of that so that we can experience His mercy, love, compassion, and reconciliation, who are we to discount or deny that same love, mercy, compassion, and reconciliation when it comes to our sins? Yet we do….when we say that God can’t or won’t forgive us, or that we are unlovable because of what we said or did, then we close the door of our heart to God and we dwell in  the negativity and falsities that the devil wants us to choose so that we walk away from God and not towards Him.

When we fall short of what we know and feel God is calling us to do so that we can be our best self, the person that He created us to be and have the potential to become, we then beat ourselves up. We do not think as God thinks because we are so focused on our short comings that the only thought about God is how disappointed He is or ashamed of us He is. Not how much He loves us despite our sins, or how unconditional that love is despite our sins, or how much He can’t love us less despite our sins. We let our sins take control of the mercy and love of the God who created us, suffered, and died for us, opened the gates of heaven to us, and gives us the sacraments of healing and life.
We have a hard time forgiving another because we cannot forgive ourselves. We struggle to forgive ourselves because we think of the sins that we committed and how big they seem to be and think that we are unforgiveable, unlovable, and unredeemable and yet our sin, already known to God, cancels all three of these false ideas.

As genuine and authentic people, people that not only profess to be followers of Christ, but live as followers of Christ, forgiving others, but we first need to forgive ourselves.

What does forgiving ourselves look like? What words would we use?  How can we experience true peace if we choose not to forgive ourselves? Where is God when it comes to forgiving ourselves? Can you look at any moment in your life where you fell short of forgiving yourself and the reasons that you used, and ask God for the grace to let go and to see yourself as He sees you? Then be prepared for a great sense of peace to permeate your being because God has been waiting to lift the unnecessary burden off of your shoulders and wants to fill you with His peace, so that you can walk proudly but humbly with your head held high, your eyes focused on the road God has set before you, and your heart ready to love God, yourself, and others with a heart that has been expanded, strengthened and filled with more love that it is overflowing and ready to be shared in the form of forgiveness, compassion, peace, joy, and true happiness. All of these are gifts and graces that God has in store for all His followers. You are His follower. You are His beloved child. You are His chosen one. You are His. You are His greatest creation. He has called you by name. He loves you unconditionally.

There is nothing that you can say or do that can or will make Him love you less, He cannot, His love is perfect and that is impossible. God wants you to be genuinely happy and only His peace can bring you, His happiness. If there is something that you cannot forgive either in yourself or in another, reflect on the words of Jesus; Father forgive them for them know not what they do…then look in the mirror and listen to Jesus say; Father forgive my beloved child standing before you, for they did not know what they were doing. I know their love for me is great and I want them to realize that and let go of what is the keeping the mirror foggy and not allowing them to see themselves as we see them, beloved, adorable, and precious in our eyes.

Choose not to be bitter…you can choose bitter candy, bitter drinks, and even bitter foods, but don’t choose a bitter heart, because that you can’t spit out, wrap up and throw away, or pour down the drain. You can surrender it to God and ask Him to exchange it for a more loving and forgiving heart. I can assure you the gift that you receive back is one that you will open with great pleasure.