Making Sacrifices: The "Little Way" of Holiness

By: Margaux Harris

“15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased." (Hebrews 13:15-16)

During Lent, we are called to make various sacrifices. Some people give something up, like social media or chocolate, while others do something extra, like saying a rosary each day or volunteering on a more regular basis. On top of that, we all give up eating meat on Fridays, and we fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. However, it can be too easy during the long season to get sidetracked from the deeper meaning of our sacrifices. Sometimes we choose something to fast from that we know will be easy and settle with our minimal discomfort, or we decide to do something but slowly find ourselves forgetting to do it. When we become lukewarm like this, it’s hard to snap out of it. 

St. Thérèse of Lisieux, one of my favorite saints, wrote about the “little way” of holiness. In essence, she recognized that we cannot all be giants of sainthood like St. Joan of Arc or St. Teresa of Avila. She saw herself, in fact, as a weak, little soul. Despite that, though, she wanted to reach the heights of holiness and become not just any saint, but a great saint. St. Thérèse’s little way is simple. She wrote, “I wanted to find an elevator which would raise me to Jesus, for I am too small to climb the rough stairway of perfection. I searched, then, in the Scriptures for some sign of this elevator, the object of my desires, and I read these words coming from the mouth of Eternal Wisdom: ‘Whoever is a little one, let him come to me.’ And so I succeeded. I felt I had found what I was looking for… The elevator which must raise me to heaven is Your arms, O Jesus!” St. Thérèse goes on to reason that, since God is all powerful and has an infinite amount of love for us, He can do anything, even making the weakest, quietest, and most sinful of us into great saints. 

In my life, I’ve struggled to be like the great saints. I catch myself zoning out in Mass, I forget to pray throughout my day, and I quickly lose patience with people around me. That’s why, when I read 33 Days to Merciful Love by Fr. Michael Gaitley about St. Thérèse’s little way, I adopted her approach to my spiritual life. When I find myself growing lukewarm, I ask God to bring me back to Him. I’m not strong like the great saints; I can’t do any great things like fasting for a full day, or give everything I have to the poor, or lead an army in God’s name. But I’ve learned that, when I ask God to bring me back, He pulls out the splinters of forgetfulness and apathy so gently that I don’t even realize until I look back and see how different I am thanks to Him. 

Don’t settle this Lent. We’re already past the halfway point, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late; rather, it’s the perfect time to look at ourselves and see what we can still do to grow closer to God. Sacrificing even small things can be really, really hard, but when we pray to God and give Him everything that is difficult for us, He makes carrying our crosses so light. Make the sacrifices that feel small, because God will transform you through them, and, before you know it, you will be ready to give Him anything out of love, and He will make you a great saint.