A Living Sacrifice

"I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service." (Romans 12:1)

Due in large part to some of the things I have been reading of late (The Compleat Gentleman, The Parish Priest, A Civilization of Love, What's Wrong with the World, and Apologia Pro Vita Sua), I have been having wild, chivalrous thoughts running about in my head and heart.

I have been, until recently, at a loss as to how best to express these. Then, while preparing a class on the 9th and 10th chapters of St. Paul's Epistle to the Hebrews, something akin to a spiritual thunderclap caught my attention! In verses 5-7, St. Paul quotes Psalm 39:7-8, "Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired, but a body have You prepared for Me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings You have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God."

At the very same time as I was reading these words, my thoughts went to Romans 12:1, "I BESEECH you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God, your reasonable service."

I now know exactly the one word to express what has been swirling around inside of me: Sacrifice! Sacrifice in the sense in which it is described and called for in these two Pauline texts (and elsewhere).

According to the Word of God, our "reasonable service" is our presenting of our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God!

Living Sacrifices! This means that I am to "do" this while I yet live. The heroism, chivalry, knighthood, and discipleship to which I am called is one built of many seemingly small, "insignificant" acts in which I sacrifice my human will and body in a manner which is holy and pleasing to God.

These so-called "small, insignificant" acts of the will, have huge spiritual significance. It is by these heroic deeds, often unseen, that I may faithfully fulfill my role in the Great Battle between Good and Evil. Daily, by my submission to the will of God, I engage the forces of darkness--and participate in the eternal victory of Christ the King--our Sovereign High Priest.

The message for me, in all of this, is that there really are no "small, insignificant" deeds. Everything has consequences. The life of the Catholic Christian is not some sort of card game, where you get a certain number of wild-cards; "freebies," that you can do with what you wish, and not have it count against you. There are no "free passes." Every choice, every decision, every thought, word, and deed carry with them spiritual significance. In each of these, I let it be known for Whom I stand; to Whom I submit, and in Whose service I am engaged.

As the Lord has spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, and again through St. Paul, He has put His laws on our hearts, and has written them on our minds. This being so, there must be a reason--a purpose. I believe the purpose is this: That we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God; our reasonable service.

Vivat Iesus!