I was watching a television program the other day, and a young woman was sharing a vivid memory from her childhood. An immigrant from Vietnam, her father worked very hard to provide for her and her family. As they sat around the dinner table, her father would smile as he watched his wife and children eat the food he brought home, never taking any for himself because he would say that he had already eaten. With tears in her eyes, the young woman said that one night, she woke up to find her dad going through the trash and eating the leftover scraps. She later realized that while her dad always claimed to have eaten, he was only saying so to ensure that each of them had had their fill first. I thought to myself, "Wow. What a remarkable act of love."
Love is self-sacrifice to secure the good of the other. But while "sacrifice" often carries a negative connotation, the word actually stems from the Latin roots "sacer," meaning "sacred," and "facere," meaning "to make." In essence, to sacrifice means to make sacred. Perhaps sacrifice is not so much about giving up as it is about giving to. And isn't this what Jesus showed us on the cross in the first place?
God's redemption of His fallen children through Jesus' birth, life, death and resurrection is the most loving act in all of history. Nothing but an extraordinary, unfathomable love can explain why an all-powerful God would take the limiting form of a man and suffer at mere human hands. And nothing but an extraordinary, unfathomable love can explain why He rose again so that the very hands who nailed Him to the cross could receive salvation enabling them to have intimate and eternal relationships with Him. Extraordinary, unfathomable love is the basis of our faith and the basis of our being. The truest thing about each of us will always be that we are deeply, deeply loved.
The story does not end there. Since we are called to imitate Christ and to love as He first loved us, we should also respond to the challenge of sacrificial love. The Vietnamese father took pleasure in his secret acts of sacrifice out of care for his cherished family. And we are to reflect the loving sacrifice of our Heavenly Father as well. Whether it be surprising your spouse with a special date, preparing your child's favorite snack, listening to a hurting friend, or writing a heartfelt note to a co-worker, there are many opportunities to sacrifice our time and demonstrate little acts of love. Though it is easy to forget, a framed quotation hanging in my kitchen reminds me: "Do small things with great love." ~Mother Teresa
Happy Valentine’s Week!
Irene Kano
Preschool Director