The Spirit of Sacrifice

By Joe Sullivan, MJ • Phoenix, AZ

Working with our two groups – the Challenge Teen Group and the Miles Jesu Boys’ Group for pre -teens – I have come to believe Our Lord is blessing these boys. 

Why do I say this? Because there seem to be good fruits with spiritual growth in each group. 

As an activity in our Teen Group, we climbed South Mountain, which is about a half-hour of rugged and very rocky terrain to the top at 2,690 ft. Our guys do this climb quite well. I go a bit slower, but I do make it to the top… eventually. We always dedicate our climbs and all their related inconveniences and pains for the conversion of sinners and for the poor souls in Purgatory. One of our guys did the last climb in his bare feet! I’m sure he helped release more than a few souls with his climb and who knows how many conversions. 

In our Boys’ Group for pre-teens there is a similar spirit of sacrifice happening among some of them. For example, one of the boys served the Easter Vigil Mass in Spanish at 7 p.m. This is already a sacrifice because our priest who offers this Mass is known for sermons that are not exactly considered short. After serving at the 7 p.m. Mass, this boy offered to stay for the English Easter Vigil Mass at 9 p.m. because we were short altar servers. This boy even convinced his dad and brother to stay for that Mass too! There may be other additional motivations as to why these two boys were able to make such sacrifices, but the bottom line is, they made them. 

The missionary spirit and future of the Church will one day be in the younger generation. Let’s pray for them that they can continue to grow and learn, and most of all, keep offering themselves in loving sacrifice.