Miss no Opportunity to Sacrifice

“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word, always doing the smallest thing right and doing it all for love.” St. Therese of Lisieux

After mass on Ash Wednesday, many of us who knew each other greeted one another before we went to work. The look we gave each other was ‘Should we wipe off the ashes?’ Mine were not so visible so they were not a worry. However, when I stopped for a coffee, there was a client whose ashes were quite visible. It made me wonder how much we are to be proud of our faith and how much should we show in public. I am not so comfortable with public displays of faith, such as processions and things and I do not usually say grace in a restaurant. This all begs the question – what sacrifice do we make for Our Lord?

“Love and sacrifice are closely linked. Like the sun and the light, we cannot love without suffering and we cannot suffer without love.” St. Gianna Molla

St. Gianna suffered so much in her last years since she was sick and pregnant. She made a great sacrifice. Are we ready to do the same? Recently, I drove out to see my friends in the Carmelite Monastery and they had many visitors before Lent began. I wondered how the convent might be spending Lent in sacrifice. It is difficult to make such sacrifices and I forget easily.

“Love Jesus. Love Him very much, but to do this, be ready to love sacrifice more.” St. Padre Pio

With all the activity surrounding Ash Wednesday and the secular world worried about how to spend Valentine’s Day, we can think of Saints Cyril and Methodius. These brothers set out to bring the gospel message to Eastern Europe. They developed an alphabet, liturgy and were a great witness to many people. Bringing Christ to others comes with sacrifice but it also comes with love. It is not the sentimental nonsense of Valentine’s Day; it is agape love that Christ showed us. There are so many saints in this period of February that can be witnesses to us. St. Martinian the Hermit, Blessed Christina of Spoleto and then one of my students wrote about Sister Irma of Bahia, Brazil. We need to be reminded during the great season of Lent that sacrifice and love are important and to make a good Lent might not revolve around how much chocolate we don’t eat. I want to make a good Lent and it starts every morning and when we forget or fail, we begin again. The saints have taught us this, Christ has taught us this and we cannot forget it. Pope Benedict once reminded us that we hand "our imperfect self over to the One who responds by handing us back our true self through his gift of self on the Cross." I need to think about all this during Lent. 

“We must sacrifice everything for everything: our ambitions, indeed our entire selves, for the cause of the faith.” Pier Giorgio Frassati