Sacrifice

Your Body and Blood, O Word, You have offered at Your crucifixion for the salvation of all: Your Body to refashion me, Your Blood to wash me clean; and You have given up Your spirit, O Christ, to bring me to the Father.

These words, taken from the Canon of St. Andrew of Crete, offer a powerful reminder of why we find ourselves in the midst of Great Lent. The events of the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ are so powerful that we must take the time to fully prepare ourselves to remember and to experience them each year.

Your Body to refashion me: Jesus Christ came to this earth as fully man and fully God. By doing so He showed us how we were meant to be, how we were meant to live. By offering His body on the Cross, His sinless Body, His perfect Body, He makes it possible for us to experience, even if only for a moment, what it must have been like in paradise. He allows us to be refashioned.

Your Blood to wash me clean: In His death He offers His precious and pure Blood as a means of cleansing us from our sins. His sacrifice, in the pouring out of His Blood on the Cross, washes from us sinfulness. It cleanses us and purifies us. Again, He makes it possible for us to experience, even if only for a moment, what it must have been like to reside in Eden forever, walking and talking with God.

and You have given up Your spirit, O Christ, to bring me to the Father: Jesus Christ's ultimate sacrifice of dying on that Cross, makes salvation possible. It is not a magical moment that throws open the gates of Paradise for everyone to simply enter. Rather, it is the possibility of the beginning of a journey, a lifetime of moving towards Christ and towards salvation. We must participate in that journey, doing the things we are doing now: fasting, prayer, alms giving. Most importantly, we must participate in this sacrifice as often as possible in the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Christ. Do not let this incredible sacrifice be in vain. Do not hold it up on a pedestal, only to be used once or twice a year.

This sacrifice of Jesus Christ was personal. It was for you, it was for me. Let our response be personal by partaking of this Body and Blood that was sacrificed for us at every opportunity we have. Let us embrace the opportunity to come close to God, to reach for salvation and to walk the path that leads to the Kingdom of Heaven.