Sacrifice

 What in the world is Fuller’s Lye or the Refiners Fire?

Fuller’s Lye is a type of bleach - it is used to whiten and purify clothing.  A refiner's fire is a fire that is especially hot that is used to burn away impurities called dross during metal smelting - it makes the remaining metal more pure, more useful, more complete.

The Messiah comes to burn away what is false and to strengthen what is true.

Christ seeks to purify us so that we can offer sacrifice to the Lord - it is kind of like, he is here to purify us so that we can abide with God, and be in relationship with God.

There is a Truth of who God created us to be - which is who we are in the eye of God.  The reality of Sin is that it corrupts the truth, so when we engage in sin, we become weak, corrupt and less pure.  One of the effects of sin is that we begin to believe that a falsehood about ourselves is true, and that lie (which is a mixture of truth and falsehood) seeps into our identity and weakens us.  For example, the lie might be that God doesn’t really love me because such-and-such happened to me, or I am not able to do thus-and-such.  

Because God is truth, lies cannot exist in His presence, his truth is like a refiner's fire that burns away falsehood. 

What can we do about this?  Reflection and Confession

Reflection on Temptation

Two things that we can do.  When we encounter temptation in our lives, we should reflect on the temptation to a particular sin.  Why am I tempted by this sin?  What weakness within me leads me to this compulsion?  Where is the lie in my heart that makes me vulnerable to this temptation?  By reflecting (in the light of God’s love) on what makes us weak we have the opportunity to ask for God’s grace to show us the truth.

In the light of the teachings of the Church

The sure anchor-point for such an examen is the teachings of the Church and the 10 commandments.  If I find that I have a temper, then my temptation might be to say “God made me this way, so the world needs to deal with it.”  In reality, we are called to examine, Why did God give me this response, and how do I use this for Good and refrain from using it to cause harm?  Rather than acquiescing and saying that it is what it is and so others must suffer.

Confession

Confession is one of the most under-utilized sacraments of the Church.  It is in Confession where we are called to examine ourselves in the presence of the refiner’s fire so that we can grow in holiness to be able to stand in the presence of God.  When I prepare for Confession, I am called to give an account for my actions and to recognize the evil and wrong that I have done to God, to others and to myself.  In that moment I receive sacramental grace that flows from the side of Christ as he hangs on the cross - what a gift of purification and sacrifice.  If you want to grow in holiness, if you want to grow in the truth of who God has created you to be - have a regular practice of confession and examination in your life.

3 kinds of Sacrifice - Self, Others and God

The readings talk about three different kinds of sacrifice today - 

• Sacrifice for Myself, 

• Sacrifice for Others and S

• Sacrifice to God

Penance - Sacrifice for myself

One of the required activities for Catholics who go to confession is to do penance.  You can think of this as a sacrifice for yourself to help you combat the temptations of Sin.  It means that I take some positive action to reinforce within myself the desire to seek what is good and true in order to be strengthened and to avoid what is false and weakening me.  

In its best form Penance helps me to place God first in my life, to grow closer to Him in holiness and to prepare myself for a more complete and full relationship with Christ.

Hebrews - Thanksgiving for others.

Christ comes in the flesh to be our brother, to show us how to wage war against the enemy and to win.  In the 2nd reading St. Paul says that Christ came in the flesh to wage war against the enemy of man as a man - remember that Christ is true God and true Man, meaning that he is 100% God and 100% Man, and it is impossible to separate out one from the other.  So it is as a Man that Christ shows us how to Sacrifice for Others - because that is what Christ does.  He enters into the flesh to wage war against the enemy (Satan) so that he can conquer Him and free us.  Christ offers a sacrifice of himself so that we might benefit - That leads us to the next major point - we ought to sacrifice for the good of others.

We have a need to sacrifice for others

Because Christ is fully God and fully man He teaches us that we have a need to sacrifice for others.  A sacrifice is a willingness to suffer for the needs of another - a willingness to take on a burden of prayer or fasting or penance for the conversion of another, that they might be able to receive the grace to be purified in some small way.  

The prophetess Anna does this in the Gospel today.  St. Luke tells us that she had spent her life in prayer and fasting - sacrificing to God for the benefit of others.  In that way Anna is open to the presence of the Holy Spirit and she is able to live a life imitating the love of Christ.

Look for someone to sacrifice for this week

Ask the Holy Spirit to point out to you this week where you are called to offer a sacrifice for another - it might be helping a friend find a new job, or praying a rosary for someone who is suffering or sick.  God will let you know where the opportunity is in your life to imitate Christ a little more today.  Remember - they don’t need to know you are praying and sacrificing for them - you just need to do it.

Sacrifice to God 

The Prophet Malachi says that we are purified so that we might be able to offer a sacrifice to God.  Sacrifices to God are made out of an expression of Thanksgiving.  To offer a sacrifice to God helps us to recognize that all that we have is a Gift from God, and it places Him first and foremost in our lives.  

Christ comes to wage war on the enemy

Christ is the one whom Malachi refers to.  He comes to wage war on the enemy, and so he comes in the flesh to redeem us from the wages of sin - that is how He is the refiner’s fire.  He enters into our existence (true God and true Man) so that he can conquer sin and Death as a Man, and as God.  Sin enslaves us with a form of addiction.  Why?  Because Sin traps us in fear, in shame, and in lies.

Christ comes to show us what merciful love and sacrifice does.  Christ comes to be the model of sacrifice before God for us, to show us how to be pure, how to be true, how to be transformed by the Love of God and through that transformation how to intercede for others.

Celebrating God’s blessings with a Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

To offer a sacrifice to God is the most primitive form of Thanksgiving as it expresses our gratitude to God for His help and grace in our lives.  This is the reason why Mary and Joseph go to the temple today - to offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving to God for having Jesus.  It is like when we get a promotion at work, or an unexpected bonus we like to gather our friends and celebrate the blessing in our lives.

Simeon - Sacrifice of Prayer and Praise

St. Simeon has led a holy life and is ready to encounter the Messiah. When he does he offers this sacrifice of prayer.

“Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you prepared in the sight of all the peoples: a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel.”

This is a beautiful prayer that the Church recites each night just before bed-time as part of the Liturgy of the Hours - which is a time we set aside in our day to reflect on all the good things God has done for us this day.  I invite you to bookmark this in your bible when you get home (Luke 2:29), and pray it as you lie down to go to sleep.

Mass - The Ultimate Sacrifice

At Mass we practice all three forms of sacrifice - we offer a sacrifice of ourselves in the offertory when we bring our gifts to the Altar.  We Sacrifice for others in the prayers of the faithful, and we offer a sacrifice of Thanksgiving to God when we receive Him in the Eucharist.

Participate in the Eucharistic Sacrifice!

This is why we come today to Christ’s Sacrifice - the Eucharistic Sacrifice in which Christ gives us His Body and Blood to purify us, to wash away our sins and to make us ready for the Kingdom of God.  That we become in truth who He created us to be.  Strengthened by this sacrifice let us leave this place emboldened to give God a sacrifice of praise to amend our lives and to share the love that God has shared with us those whom we meet.