PRESENT WEEK'S GLIMPSE OF GOD

Glimpse of God for the week of September 27, 2026

“It is what it is”

There are so many life situations that I could name that calls us to, but if I put in context those few words, no matter what we are experiencing, we know or seek to trust, that as God leads us to it, He will lead us through it, no matter what “it” is.

As I have often said, a Glimpse of God is not limited to what one can see, but also what one hears, touches, smells, speaks, senses, and understands as God chooses to reveal Himself.

The saying “it is what it is” is something that I always say, especially when I realize that I have no control over a specific situation or circumstances, and I don’t want to get caught up in what I cannot change.  BUT now as I reflect on the words that I use so very often, I find myself realizing that in my desire to dismiss and not get caught up in any drama or frustration, I am diminishing the” it” and taking my God and His goodness and graces for granted. As we go one step further,” It is what it is”  , offer us the opportunity, the invitation to place what our “it” is before Him and trust that He will use “it” to empower, enable and enlighten us to better know His will and how we can best fulfill it. He desires that we be our best self, the person that He created us to be and have the potential to become. The question that I have is how does “it” help us to do that? What is “it” that God is leading us to so that we can get through “it”?

These are questions that this challenge has brought me to ask myself.  I believe that I need to think harder about life challenges and when I say “it is what it is” Am I saying it together with God or independently from God? The latter is a slippery slope, in that if I don’t acknowledge God’s presence and help in the “it” I am not surrendering or trusting God completely, but rather ignoring, diminishing and dismissing “It”.  As I have reflected on the glimpse for this week, I have come to recognize and trust that God has brought me to where I am today. When I say “it is what it is”, I believe that I am saying it with a desire to completely trust God and His continued graces to get me through the” its” of my life.

So, as we begin a new week , the first full week of Autumn, let us seek to recognize through the” its” of our life that God has lead us to have been a source of personal and spiritual transformation, freedom, healing and wholeness.  I pose the questions for daily reflection; What are the “its” of your life, and how do you pray with them? 

SUNDAY – “FAITH”- “Faith is what faith is”

What is your faith to you? Is it important enough to nurture and grow in, or is it a token gift from God that you turn to when things get rough, and you need help?  When you say” It is what it is” and you are referring to your faith, are you saying that because you feel that what you learned, grew up believing and hold on to, is significant, transforming and life changing?  Or do you say that because you think that faith is something insignificant, unhelpful and more like a crutch, and that you have managed all this time without using it as a crutch?

What is your faith to you? Look at how you think about your faith and how it impacts and changes your daily life. Our faith

“is what it is” but Jesus makes “it” more than stagnant, He invites us to make it an opportunity to grow, learn and experience life changing transformation. Today, are you ready to make your “it” life changing?

MONDAY- “LIFE” “Life is what Life is”

What does life mean to you? If life is what it is, what does that mean to you? As you look back at your life and everything, both positive and negative, do you see God in the picture and if so, where, and if not, why? When you say, “it is what it is”, and you are looking back at certain situations and life challenges, are you trying to dismiss the impact that the challenges have made because of fears, pain, hurt and dismissing them with the phrase is easier?  When you look back on your life and you say “it is what it is” do you see everything and blanketing it all with a statement that doesn’t recognize where God is or was? Or when you look at your life and you say “it is what it is” you are recognizing that what God has designed is His design, and all that has occurred has been a part to His design, and has made you who you are today? It is not stagnant but rather an invitation for life changing, transforming, and renewing experience?

What is life to you? Today, as you look at your life and how you have gotten to be where you are, and who you are today, are you able to recognize that God has been an integral part of your life and has been you silent, joyful, steady partner through all of life challenges, obstacles, and victories?

TUESDAY – “DEATH” “Death is what death is”

Death is a subject or topic that many folks do not like to discuss, yet it is the one act that will affect every person on this earth.  Why are people afraid to talk about death? Is it death that frightens them, or is it the not knowing the way in which they will pass from this life to the next? As faithful followers of Christ, we have the promise of eternal life and the assurance not only that we will see God face to face, but that we will also be reunited with our loved ones who have gone before us in faith. Death is our final act on the stage of life. I believe that we go through our life living as the best person that we can, the person that God created us to be and have the potential to become.  As we prepare to return home, either via a long illness, accident, or age, we begin to look at our life and take stock in it.  Our God doesn’t want to meet us face to face with regrets but rather peace.  He knows our sins and forgives them, and we need to let them go so that our journey to heaven is a journey of freedom and not burdened by carrying our past life of poor choices, mistakes, weaknesses, or sins. We need to look at our life and ask for mercy, seek to extend mercy and trust in our loving God who gave Jesus as the ultimate sacrifice so that we can get to heaven. Do you believe this? Death is what death is. No one can escape it, it can be painful and painfilled, it can also be a journey of peace and transformation as well as one of anticipation.  Death is not the end but a new and eternal beginning, and it is in that beginning where we see that our life was not lived in vain, but with purpose and conviction. Death is not the beginning of darkness and the end of light, but rather it is the beginning of light and the end of darkness.

The worst death is not the physical one, but rather the spiritual death that occurs while we are still here on earth, where we allow our spiritual relationship with God to die because we choose not to nourish it with the Sacraments of the Church, being in the presence of a community of believers, or by developing a personal prayer life. But like the final act of death, when we choose to reconnect with our God, He is right there to give us new life, right there to resurrect our hope, joy, and peace with His mercy, reconciliation, compassion and understanding. 

Are you facing a type of death today? How can you experience that peace that Christ wants for you amid the thoughts of death: either the fear of it, the spiritual aspect ,or the immediate reality of you preparing to meet God face to face? In any case, if you are preparing to meet your God face to face, or you are experiencing the death of how your body is reacting to age or circumstances: aches, pains, limitations, arthritis, cancers, Alzheimer’s, or any other disease where your youth, your abilities are no longer what they were, turn to the God  who calls you His beloved child and is waiting to embrace you here and now. His embrace will bring peace instead of fear, calm instead of turbulence, love instead of hate, and surrender instead of regret. Only in death can we experience new life. Today, take this lent to look at your mini deaths, the experiences that keep you in the tomb and seek to come out so that you can revel in the new life that Christ died for.

WEDNESDAY – “AGING” “Aging is what aging is”

Aging is a process that when we are younger, we can’t wait to be older, when we are growing older, we wish that we can return to the days of our youth, and when we reach certain age milestones, we are gently, or not so gently, reminded that the hill is steep, and the road down can be more challenging than we grew up thinking it could or would be.

Aging is what aging is and exactly what is it? For me, it is a gift from God to learn, grow, change, acknowledge and let go.  As I have gotten older and have faced many health and life challenges on the way, I have been given the grace to see God in them. It is in my spiritual maturity, where I was able to surrender to God and seek the wisdom that comes from Him, so that I could make the right choice and grow in a greater understanding of how I was being called to grow from my lived experience. 

Aging can be a gift of freedom to celebrate or a burden to lament.  I don’t think that only older people get sick or face major health challenges, it just seems that the older one gets, they choose to be empowered by complaining and making their illnesses a part of their daily litany. That is where it is seen as more of a burden and not a blessing or an opportunity to be more selfless and live as a person of peace, joy, and happiness. As we all age, let us be mindful that it is an opportunity not only to appreciate the many gifts that come with aging, but also to take the opportunity to surrender those things that make the journey burdensome.

Today, look at the many gifts that you have at your age. The gift of your lifelong faith, family, community, grandchildren, grand dogs, retirement, health, church, community and most of all, a grateful heart, one that has been expanded throughout the years and now is ready and open to receive God’s love as He chooses to share it. 

THURSDAY – “SUFFERING” “Suffering is what suffering is”

Suffering is a part of life, as well as death, we suffer within our families, because of our families, through the aging process and because of sin. Yet that is not the end.  As Christians, we were baptized into the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He knows suffering. He suffered most of all for you and me. Suffering takes many forms: pain, anguish, sorrow, or torment. It is in the moments that we suffer we can choose to see Christ with us, or away from us. Jesus understands us when we feel abandoned, even though we are never abandoned. He understands and can handle our anger, frustration, fury, self-pity, as well as our surrender, peace, and calm.  Suffering is what it is, but it has a purpose, and it is in the purpose that we can grow out of our self, see others who are also suffering and seek to walk with them. When we suffer, we tend to think that we won’t or can’t make it through. We think that we are not strong enough or have the courage or determination, yet as we look back, we see those as non-truths and see more clearly how we were strong, had the courage and the determination to overcome the obstacles, and that our suffering has made us the strong and resilient person we are today.

Today, look back at the crosses that you have carried or are carrying and ask for the grace to see how you have grown from them and how they have made you a stronger, more resilient person that you are today.

FRIDAY---- “FAMILY” “Family is what family is”

Family is what it is, that can be a positive statement that invokes good memories, or negative ones.  Family can be the immediate members, or extended members, members of religious community, or foster families. The gift of family and each of its members is meant to be treated with dignity, respect and honor because each individual is God’s beloved son or daughter. As family is a gift, but like every gift, the recipients can nurture the gift, appreciate the gift, bless the gift or abuse, neglect or turn away from the gift. As we grow up, we see the flaws of family members and have the choice to love or reject them. Family is what it is. What does that mean and how does that statement affect you today? If you come from a dysfunctional family, are you still bearing the wounds or the scars? Have you accepted the grace from God to not only see the members of your family as human beings that are weak and sinful, but also want to forgive them? You are the only one carrying the pain, so why continue to give them the control over you experiencing the true joy, peace, and happiness that God wants for you. If you come from a loving family, are you able to thank God for them or have you taken their love for granted?  We don’t say thank you enough for the good things that we have been blessed with

Our family, whether it be dysfunctional or functional, is where God placed us to take root and grow. There is a bond, a DNA that keeps us as one, no matter where we are in the world. I believe that that bond is what can bring reconciliation, love, mercy to each member with the grace and help of God. Although this may not be possible in all family situations, we still have the grace of God to pray for it and to sincerely desire it.

Today, pray for your family. Pray for those that have caused you harm and pray for those that helped you heal, pray for those far away and those near and dear, and remember that as you pray for various members, that they are also God’s beloved sons and daughters and where your love is lacking, God’s love is overflowing. 

SATURDAY – “SIN” “Sin is what sin is”

“Sin is what it is” When we choose to sin, it is an instrument, a tool, a wedge, that the devil uses to tear us away from God and make us think or believe that we are unloved, unlovable, unredeemable because of our sin. The devil is the greatest liar.  There is no sin that can make God love us less. We are His beloved children, called by name and His greatest creation.  God so loved us that He sent His only Son to suffer and die for us. Sin is a choice of the free will, but so is the love and mercy of God and the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. Forgiveness by God is always there for us. As we receive God’s mercy because of His unconditional love and compassion, we are called to extend it to others.

Sin is our weaknesses at their strongest moment. When we are so weak, due to weariness, temptations, physical, emotional, or spiritual exhaustion, we give in to the weakness because we don’t think that we can fight or resist, yet it is those weakest moments, where God is waiting and wants to remind us that it is weakness that His power is greatest.

We cannot dismiss sin just by saying “it is what it is”, because then it seems like an excuse to keep sinning, because one thinks that they have no control. YET we have the most control over sin because God gave us free will and when we sin, He gives us the sacrament of reconciliation, the desire for conversion, to make amends and try harder.  I believe that we are sinners striving to become saints. Saints are those who did ordinary things in an extraordinary way. SO for today, look at sin, look at yourself and see the extraordinary person that you are, the person that God sees and pray to overcome the weaknesses that cause you to sin, and begin with the reality, the truth, that there is no sin that can make God love you less.