Lent: Total Immolation of the Heart

By Fr. Christopher Foeckler, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

Some time ago a father of young children, a convert, came for Spiritual Direction and was explaining his meditation on Ephesians 5 – that as a husband he knew he was called to “sacrifice himself” for his wife (and children) as Christ sacrificed Himself for His Bride, the Church. He was telling me how he was trying to “die to himself” for his family and how that looked for him in his circumstances. Moreover, he told me that his wife was doing the same for him! Both of them were doing this as New Year’s resolutions. He went on to say that as a matter of fact his relationship with his wife was the best it had ever been and that because of these efforts he was finally really enjoying being a father to his three boys! (I’m such a genius that I just encouraged him to keep those resolutions going!) 

Then a few days later another married man, a convert as well, with grown children was telling me in Spiritual Direction about a phrase he was fascinated with that he had come across in a Michael Obrien book and wanted to discuss more about what it meant. The phrase was “No other sacrifice compares with the total immolation of the heart”.  Since the author is a novelist and not necessarily a mystic or a theologian, he wanted to know if this was an accurate statement. It occurred to me to comment that, while it was in flowery language, it was nevertheless the same admonition Jesus gave, saying “If you want to be My disciple, you must deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Me.” (Cf. Mt 16:25) I added that Jesus said this not just to His Twelve Apostles, but to all the disciples who were following Him! So the implication was that it was an injunction to all Christians and, as such, a basic practice for everyone, as Jesus said, “who want to be My disciple”. Moreover, I explained that “immolation” was a synonym for holocaust or the complete sacrifice, the total consuming of the offering with nothing left over for those making the sacrifice, but the whole offering was for God. 

Now in Lent, meditating on the passion of Jesus and practicing self-denials in imitation of Jesus’ 40 day fast in the desert and especially His self-immolation on the Cross, these conversations came again to mind. They reflect in a vivid way the meaning and purpose of Lent: that, like Jesus, we must die to ourselves for the sake of those we are called to love and those beyond according to our circumstances in life and with as much generosity as God’s grace gives us, striving to offer the total immolation of our hearts, our desires and preferences with Jesus’ total immolation of Himself, for the salvation of all people! Asi sea. So be it.