About the everyday sacrifices... my column this week at Patheos

The gift of doing a weekly column like this is that provides me a place to revisit themes that have grown stronger in my own life over time and take them to a deeper place. For example, this week's column....


Sacrifice -- the kind that serves another -- binds us intangibly to the wonderful wounded Christ whose own power transforms our humble service in all our relationships -- work, families, marriages -- and helps to perfect it, so it look like His. And we find this most truly when we lay it all down every week as an offering in the Holy Sacrifice of Mass...  before the Holy Sacrament of the Altar. 


Here's a bit: 

Sacrifice for another, it might be said, is perhaps the ultimate “yes” that one can offer another person, and unto God. 

Sacrifice acts on behalf of another, putting them first, not furthering one’s own cause. It entails interrupting or delaying our own plans, desires, trajectories, goals and even giving something we may be afraid to lose… our time, money, comfort, power or prestige… for the sake of another who may or may not be worthy of it. 

True sacrifice is a profound offering… a mix of generosity, magnanimity, humility, love, and selflessness.

We sure do appreciate it when someone else shoulders our burden in the muddiness of life, or has our back when the fight is on, or stands in the gap between what we can and cannot do for ourselves. 

In the midst of being on the receiving end of another’s loving service, we often have no idea to what depth they chose to intervene on our behalf. And it’s often not until long afterwards that we have an opportunity to respond in gratitude to what’s been received.  

There's more, here.

On Being A Mother

As we welcome the month of Mary and Mother's Day, my column, A Word in Season, turns an eye toward motherhood... and the transformation it brings to a woman's life.  Here's a snippet:

Speaking as a woman, I can honestly say that nothing has rocked my world as much motherhood. Nothing has brought me to my knees, or made me laugh uproariously, or confused or challenged me, or given me a glimpse of the Heavenly Father’s love, as being a mother.

With the arrival of her first child a woman undergoes a titanic change, a shift in identity and responsibility from what she was or did before. She is now forever a mother and in charge of the life of her child until it is grown. And after her child reaches maturity, she remains a mother in a more nuanced way. A child is a profound and humbling gift to receive; at the same time, the child is poised to receive everything a mother can possibly give.

Don’t let the parenting brochures fool you. This is a life of hard work and sacrifice.

The sacrificial side of motherhood first becomes evident during a pregnancy. A woman yields her body and wellbeing that a child may take shape and develop, as it changes her shape and her calendar forever. While a biological mother conceives and gestates and gives birth, it harkens to the fact that all mothers experience the physicality of sacrifice as they nurture and rear their children. The shedding of blood, sweat, and tears is more than an apt proverb.

Yet, motherhood is also a life of deep joy and renewal. Mothers are routinely awed and delighted by their growing children, as well as buoyed by their smiles and achievements. Often, when we lovingly gaze at our children, we are transported by belief in all that is true, good, and beautiful. And that is a very good thing. It bespeaks an encounter with the Holy.

You'll find the second half here.  And please feel free to subscribe to the column over there. I'd be very grateful to show up in your email inbox or reader once a week.

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