Sacrifice to get closer to Jesus

By JORDYN MCBRIDE- | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

(During the season of Lent, we were asked to commemorate Christ by making sacrifices. What were some examples of major sacrifices you made in the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic? Why is it important as Catholics to make sacrifices? How can our sacrifices make us closer to Jesus?)

Through this whole pandemic, everyone in this world has had to at least make one sacrifice no matter if it’s big or small. For me, I had to make several changes/sacrifices in my life that I’m still adjusting to. One of the sacrifices I’ve had to make is not being able to celebrate holidays which I’m not used to. Usually, my family would gather together to celebrate and have parties together but, instead, we call each other or sometimes visit each other’s houses. Another sacrifice I have made in this past year is just not being able to see my family that doesn’t live in New York. It can be hard when you only get to see family one time. Now since we are in the pandemic, I don’t get to see my family at all and I wish I could spend more time with them. Hence this is why we should spend more time with each other or just appreciate things because you never know how quickly your life can change.

There are many reasons why making sacrifices are important. One reason is because when Jesus walked this earth, he had to sacrifice not eating for 40 days and 40 nights. If we are Catholic or Christian, we should strive to be like Jesus, knowing what he did for each and every person. The other reason sacrifice is important is for people less fortunate than us. There are many people in the world that don’t have food, clothes, any form of technology or even clean water, so we should take that to mind. We should help the people who are less fortunate than us, be more thankful and not take anything for granted knowing other people have it harder than us. Sacrifice can be big or small, but is still important to us and to other people.

Sacrifice can make our walk with Jesus stronger and better in countless ways. If we sacrifice, our relationship with Jesus can grow. When we sacrifice things, we take them away which means we can focus on other things. So if we do this, our relationship with Jesus will thrive since we won’t be focused or worried on things (especially if they are minor issues). For example, during Lent we sacrificed certain things for 40 days to spend more time with Him so our relationship with Jesus can improve. Another reason why our sacrifices can make us closer to Jesus is because everything on this earth is temporary except for Jesus’ Word, the Bible. It even says in the Bible that nothing on this earth will last forever and that everything is temporary. Thus, I encourage you to sacrifice something and see how it affects you personally.

Jordyn McBride is an eighth grader at Blessed Sacrament School in Albany.