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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Sacrifice

It seems that the Lord has really been trying to teach me something about self-denial lately. As I was working on my CFR application, it occurred to me that both visits to NY were major lessons in the value of sacrifice. Then the other day I was thinking about how little I really do that. Even when I do help somebody, it is rarely for pure reasons. Most of the time it is because I enjoy doing it or I expect to get something in return, or sometimes I feel like I have no choice but to help. But how much more a gift would it be to serve someone out of love – even (and especially) when you don’t feel like it or when it would be easier not to?

The value of sacrifice also hit me when I saw the movie "The Nativity." What great examples of selfless servants Mary and Joseph were! They took on the challenge without a single complaint and persevered in complete faith, when it would have been so much easier not to. The whole history of our faith has relied on people who have chosen to give up the comfortable life to answer the call - from Abraham, Moses, and the prophets of the Old Testament through Paul and the Apostles to the many saints over the past 2000 years. Every day, I am given the opportunity to do the same and I pray that I might have the courage and strength to share the love of Christ with others in service. If I can learn to overcome my own selfishness and laziness, maybe God will be able to use me the way he has used so many others. Lord, give me the grace to say yes. Help me to offer myself in in sacrifice, as Christ sacrificed his whole life out of love for us.

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