148.  Sacrifice and contemplative prayer go hand in hand.  If you do not practice sacrifice, do not complain if your contemplative prayer has grown cold.

149.  You have to make many sacrifices when you live in the midst of people who differ from you politically, socially and ideologically.  Look at the example of Jesus Who is God:  He lived among sinful mankind.  This was thirty three years of continuous sacrifice.

150.  If you should encounter a torturer you could adopt one of two attitudes; you could say, "This man injures me" or "This man sacrifices me".

151.  Everybody would say, "This man is a cause of misfortune to me"; but, you should say, "This man is the instrument which God is using to transform me."

152.  Everyone venerates those who are gifted with the stigmata, that is, an impression of the five wounds of Our Lord on their bodies.  But all who fear God impress the five wounds of Our Lord on their own bodies by means of sacrifice.

153.  You think that you do not have anything to sacrifice to God, but He sees you reject so many opportunities.  For example, be happy and jovial with someone who ridicules you and tries to make you angry; be silent in the face of false and unjust accusations; show love to a friend who betrays you; do not utter an angry word in retaliation.  Every single moment has its opportunity for sacrifice.

154.  Do not sacrifice in the manner of the Pharisees, but sacrifice in the manner of the spirit of the Gospel (Mt 6:16, 16:61, Mk 8:1).

155.  A person who truly loves, sacrifices himself all the time but never speaks about it.

156.  If you say, "I do not have any opportunity for sacrifice", this is the sign that you still do not love God.

157.  If there is no sacrifice, there will be no holiness.  You have to deny yourself and take up your cross before you will be able to follow Our Lord.  Denying yourself is a prerequisite of holiness (Mt 16:27, Mk 8:34, 10:21, Lk 9:23).

158.  You must sacrifice yourself, not other people.

159.  For the sake of love we are prepared to sacrifice everything:  "But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father" (Jn 14:31). 

160.  If you do not practice external sacrifice, nobody will believe that you practice interior sacrifice.  Mortification of the senses is most important.  David fell because he did not keep guard over his eyes.

161.  "Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (Jn 13:1).  That end was the Cross.  Your sacrifice must be complete; it must be a holocaust if you are going to love right to the end.

162.  Sacrifice that which separates you from Our Lord.  Recall his words: "If your foot is an occasion of falling to you, cut it off," and "if your eye is an occasion of falling, pluck it out" (Mk 9:44,46).

163.  God often sends crosses to those He loves, but such people whom God loves in this special way are few, because not many people will accept sacrifice.

164.  If you do not sacrifice in small things, you will surrender when confronted by big sacrifices. 

165.  As a strong incentive for yourself, define your purpose on each occasion when you make some sacrifice; for example, to save a soul, to offer it up for a sick person, to pray for the church in a region where the Church in encountering many obstacles and difficulties.

166.  The way you start each day is most important.  Rise eagerly each morning and you will carry this enthusiasm throughout the day.

167.  Do not be afraid!  Read over the Acts of the Apostles; enduring hunger and thirst, poverty, robberies, beatings, shipwreck, false accusations, imprisonment and even death was the lot of the Apostles (2Cor 11:25-27).  If you are afraid, do not be an apostle!

168.  If you practice self control by means of sacrifice, your soul and body will be like two friends who are united and invincible.  But, if you cannot discipline yourself, your soul and body will become two enemies who are to remain so forever. 

 169.  The person of sacrifice is tolerant towards the faults and imperfections of others, but strict in regard to his/her own faults and imperfections.

170.  There are some people who make sacrifices, but want everybody else to know about it.  There are other people who do not make sacrifices, but would have everybody else believe that they do.  There are still others who frequently make sacrifices, but do not want anybody else to know about it.

171.  In the solemn pilgrimage in which thousands of people take part, everybody wants to carry the cross at the head of the procession.  But, in the pilgrimage of our everyday lives how many are prepared to carry their own crosses?  It is indeed difficult to be an unsung hero/heroine.

172.  The choice is between holiness and sin.  In many instances, holiness or sin is the result of victory or defeat in one moment requiring sacrifice.

173.  The profession of faith, the Credo, should sharpen our appreciation of the sacrifice of Our Lord: "He was born of the Virgin Mary and became man.  For ourselves He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died and was buried"; a sacrifice during the whole of his life, a sacrifice of oblation.

174.  You can sacrifice your life, sacrifice your whole existence because of your overwhelming hope in Jesus Christ.  "He rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; He ascended into heaven.  He will come again in glory.....his kingdom will have no end."

175.  Do not think that you are the only one who makes sacrifices.  Look around about you, from small children to those elderly ladies who sacrifice everything to rear their children and grandchildren.  You should be ashamed of yourself.  You would be amazed to know that there are some people who are very poor, yet under their tattered clothes there are real heroes or heroines.