“Revival: A Lenten Devotional for Eucharistic Renewal,” is a series of simple, daily reflections that will help Catholics rekindle a living relationship with Jesus by reflecting on their relationship with the Lord, the Eucharist, and our missionary call to share the love of God with our neighbors.
I was in the midst of student teaching in an urban Catholic high school, and everything was hard.
The workload I was supposed to have was essentially doubled due to unforeseen circumstances. I was also struggling to manage a classroom full of students who confronted so many hard things: broken families, the presence of gang activity and drug trafficking in their neighborhoods, and the societal pressures and influences that any teenager faces today. All of these realities drained a significant part of my students’ energy and often led to disengagement in the classroom.
Despite all of that, I kept at it every day, making the sacrifices required of me. I would wake up early to go to a Mass, then be at the high school from 7:15 a.m. to about 4:00 p.m. I’d make it back to the convent for our communal Holy Hour with the other Franciscans and eat dinner quickly before I’d spend 2–4 more hours grading papers and preparing for the next day. As you can imagine, sleep was at a premium.
Early in the semester, during an all-school assembly, I had to confiscate a student’s cell phone. The student refused to talk to me for the rest of the term and stopped coming to class for several weeks.
Despite the challenges, each day I just decided to keep showing up. I chose to love the student who wouldn’t talk to me as well as every student in every class. At every Mass and every Holy Hour I prayed for my students. I kept hoping and continued offering kindness and love.
My last day as a student teacher was the worst. As I walked through the hallway with stacks of papers and binders, I lost my grip and everything went crashing to the floor. Dozens of students walked past me as I scrambled to retrieve everything now strewn across the hallway floor.
Then, I heard a voice ask, “Do you need help?” I looked up. It was the student I’d taken the phone from three months before. I said yes, and she quietly helped me gather up what I had dropped. I thanked her, and she walked away.
I believe God brought me to that school to learn how to love.
“Sacrifice, in order to be genuine, has to empty us of ourselves.” Mother Teresa’s words help me articulate my experience, and they also turn my gaze toward our Divine Teacher, Jesus, who gave us the perfect example of love upon the Cross. Every time we gaze upon a crucifix we are reminded of what Jesus did for us, and we can be reminded that we enter into these sacred mysteries of our redemption at every Mass.
Every day, whether we realize it or not, we make many sacrifices. From waking up early for work to enduring the tantrum of a toddler (or teenager!), life is a journey that requires so many little (and sometimes big) sacrifices: choices that require us to empty ourselves for the sake of something or someone.
Any person can make a sacrifice, regardless of his or her religious affiliation or unaffiliation. Parents still love and sacrifice for their children, people still join the Peace Corps, and women and men still serve as first responders, whether they are Christian or not. So, what makes sacrifice uniquely Christian? One word: Jesus.
Through the reality of the Paschal Mystery, Jesus Christ, the Beloved Son of the Father, took upon himself all sin: original sin and every actual sin any person had or ever would commit. His perfect sacrifice on the Cross and his glorious Resurrection destroyed sin and death forever. At every Mass, we enter into the Paschal Mystery.
The Offertory, in particular, is the part of the Mass that helps us understand sacrifice: the offering of the people, places, and things that are dear to us, along with our very selves, as gifts lovingly given for the good of others. During the Offertory, the gifts of bread and wine are presented to the priest on behalf of the whole community. These gifts represent our offering back to God of all that he has given to us, including our very lives.
The priest receives the gifts, brings them to the altar, and prays the Offertory prayers over them, “Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation, for through your goodness we have received the bread/wine we offer you... It will become for us the bread of life/our spiritual drink.” We respond, “Blessed be God forever.” We watch as the priest reverently places the paten with the bread and the chalice containing the wine mixed with a few drops of water upon the corporal, a special starched linen cloth. The word “corporal” comes from the Latin word for “body.” Very soon, upon this linen cloth, the Body of Christ, under the appearance of bread, will rest.
As we pray this part of the Mass, we can spiritually lay upon the altar, alongside the bread and wine, all that we are and possess. We can offer our children, our colleagues, our parents, and best friends. We can offer those suffering from the wars in Ukraine, Gaza, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We can offer our own sufferings and our very selves. We offer these and so many other people and situations, uniting them to Jesus, who offers them to the Father for us through the ministry of the priest… “Pray, brethren, that my sacrifice and yours may be acceptable to God, the almighty Father.”
Sometimes, we may be tempted to think our sacrifices are inconsequential. But what if we were to unite them all to our Crucified Savior, so that every little (and big) sacrifice we make, day in and day out, becomes a step on our personal Way of the Cross? Every dish washed, every diaper changed, every minute spent mowing grass, every visit to a dying loved one, every tear we shed for the child who is lost in a world of addiction, and even all our personal losses—all of these sacrifices can become a sign of Jesus’ perfect sacrifice of love upon the Cross. “Taking part in the Eucharistic Sacrifice, the source and summit of the Christian life, they offer the divine victim to God, and offer themselves along with it” (Lumen Gentium, no. 11). It isn’t so much how we live our sufferings in life (although that is very important), but rather why we do so: for love of Jesus and for love of one another.
Next time you go to Mass, don’t hold back. Your sacrifices are precious to Jesus. Offer them to him, for he desperately wants you to participate in his own self-offering.
Download Looking for Jesus, a Companion Children's Guide (available in English and Spanish) and coloring page (English | Spanish) created by Katie Bogner.
Sr. Alicia Torres is a member of the Franciscans of the Eucharist of Chicago. In addition to participating in the apostolic works of her religious community, she has been serving the National Eucharistic Revival since 2021.
Katherine Bogner is a Catholic school teacher from Central Illinois who is passionate about equipping parents, catechists, and teachers to share the beauty and truth of Christ and his Church with children. Her most recent book, All about Lent & Holy Week: Sharing the Seasons of Repentance & Salvation with Children, is the essential guide all Catholic families need for the holiest time of the year.
