Little Sacrifices, Great Charity

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Anyone who knows me knows well that I am not a good sufferer.  I do not fast well, I do not sacrifice well, and I am prone to be grumpy when asked/required to do so.  The sacrificial and penitential times of the year, Advent and especially Lent, are particularly rough.

Over the past several days, I have been called by the Lord to engage in certain small sacrifices for a number of reasons.  As usual, I have complained along the way.  I have brooded over the actions I cannot take or the food I cannot eat.

Yet, one thing was made abundantly clear to me last night.  It is better for me to make smaller sacrifices, involving less significant things and shorter amounts of time, with greater charity.  While the thing sacrificed, whether it is eating or the iPhone, is important; the disposition of my heart is far more important.

In my efforts to grow in the virtues of patience and fasting, I should focus first on undertaking those sacrifices that I can make joyfully.  With lots of practice in those, I might be able to move toward deeper austerity in fasting and abstaining from the things of this life...eventually.  I pray that God's grace would be upon me in this effort to learn charity in sacrifice, and I pray that others might help me in this effort.

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