Tag: sacrifice
To see the value and the beauty in ordinary things
One of the most important – and most neglected – elements in the beginnings of the interior life is the ability to respond to reality to see the value and the beauty in ordinary things to come alive to the splendor that is all around us in the creatures of God. We do not see… Read More ›
Desert story
One of the old men of the Thebaid used to tell the following story: “I was the son of a pagan priest. When I was small I would sit and watch my father who often went to sacrifice to the idol. Once, going behind him in secret, I saw Satan and all his army standing… Read More ›
Why such an enormous price for our salvation?
When meditating on the Passion of Our Lord, which culminated in His death on the cross, we can hardly avoid wondering, “Why such an enormous price for our salvation.” We know that one tear of the Savior’s divine eyes, one sigh of His Sacred Heart, would have been enough to ransom the whole world, because… Read More ›
Being Beloved Children of God (Part 3)
Epiphany. That is a powerful word that the Lord gives us in the parable of the Prodigal Son. We all know ourselves to be the Prodigal Son, and we are on that journey. We are at different places on the journey, but there is a significant moment on the journey—a moment of epiphany. An epiphany… Read More ›
Signs of self-love
Fickleness and indecision are signs of self-love. If you can never make up your mind what God wills for you, but are always veering from one opinion to another, from one practice to another, from one method to another, it may be an indication that you are trying to get around God’s will and do… Read More ›
We have to Work, Sacrifice, and Cooperate
An ethic of barely disguised selfishness is no longer a Christian ethic. Nor can we afford to raise this to the national level and assume that the world will adjust itself if every nation seeks its own advantage before everything else. On the contrary, we are obliged to widen our horizons and to recognize our… Read More ›
Love and a Fully Human Existence
But to love another as a person we must begin by granting him his own autonomy and identity as a person. We have to love him for what he is in himself, and not for what he is to us. We have to love him for his own good, not for the good we get… Read More ›
The Great Christian Task of Our Time
Prayers and sacrifice must be used as the most effective spiritual weapons in the war against war, and like all weapons they must be used with deliberate aim: not just with a vague aspiration for peace and security, but against violence and against war. This implies that we are also willing to sacrifice and restrain… Read More ›
Offer a Sacrifice of Righteousness
What is the meaning of “Offer a sacrifice of righteousness” [P 4:5]? Seek after righteousness, bring an offering of righteousness. This — not the sacrifice of sheep and calves but the practice of righteousness — is the greatest gift one can bring to God; this is an acceptable sacrifice, an offering that is pleasing. Behold… Read More ›