Day Three - Sacrifice

Today's Reflection

by Elizabeth Boda

Today is a big milestone, the first Friday of Lent. Each Friday, we start getting used to sacrificing by fasting and giving up meat. But what is sacrificing and what is it for?

To better understand what it means to sacrifice, we can delve into the word’s structure. The word “sacrifice” comes from the Latin word sacrificium. Sacrificium is a combination of sacer (sacred), and facere (to make). So the word “sacrifice” means “to make something sacred.” Quite interesting, isn’t it? We can see the relations of the more ancient meaning and how we classify it today. Sacrificing is meant to purify ourselves and lead us closer to God. God loves us so much that it helps and pleases Him when we grow closer to Him. What good parent would be unconcerned for their child’s well-being?

Since sacrificing purifies us, it also has been theorized to relieve some of Christ’s pain on the cross, whether emotionally or physically. Jesus saw all the sins ever committed and ever to be committed before Him in His sacrifice, and it caused him much grief. So much so that he felt himself being drawn away from God the Father, just as we draw ourselves away from God when we sin. If we purify ourselves and make ourselves more presentable to God, Jesus takes on less of our uncleanliness because we have less.

When we sacrifice, we receive graces to help us to continue sacrificing. It’s like a circle. Before when you think about sacrificing you may not want to do it, but you always feel better after you have. Whether it’s the relief of making a decision or the joy you get when someone thanks you, sacrifice can bring us a deep and lasting joy. God is happy when we are happy in good things. When you suffer but then see someone happy in a good way because of it (i.e. staying up all night to set up a surprise, getting burned while making someone their favorite food, etc.) doesn’t it make your pain less noticeable?

Give - not to get something like praise or money - but to get the things you cannot see. Not a material thing in this world is greater than the joys and graces from Heaven. All of your pain and suffering does not go unseen by the person who loves you most. It will all be worth it in the end.

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (Prayer for Peace)

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.