Offering sacrifices to God is a theme that gives us much to talk about. When we think about sacrifice, we might think about fasting or about going on foot to a Sanctuary to give thanks (or ask) for a grace from Our Lady. But what is the sacrifice that is most pleasing to God?
At Fatima, Our Lady asked for “prayer and sacrifice,” and in one of his meditations our founder says: “prayer – to understand the will of God; and sacrifice – to put it into practice.”
Often it can be easier to simply choose a sacrifice to offer; the difficulty begins when God asks us to sacrifice something that we don’t want to give, especially when it comes to sacrificing our own will to do His. The search for the will of God, however, requires the kind of readiness that Christ had: the renunciation of one’s own will that leads only in one direction, towards death on the cross.
“Sacrifice and offering you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me. Then I said: Behold, I have come to do your will, O God” (cf. Heb 10:5-7).
Let us reflect, and reflect well: if God told us today, “Come, follow Me,” asking us to leave behind houses, families, and personal plans (cf. Matt 19:29), would we be ready to make this sacrifice? Would we respond like Jesus, “Father, Your will be done, not mine” (cf. Luke 22:42), or like the rich young man would we go away sad because we didn’t want to give up so many things (cf. Matt 19:22)?
--Sr. CMC
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