What Would You Give Up?

Most people who know me would know that I have a fondness for and devotion to saints. Those close to me and those who read this column would have already met my favorites as I write about them every once in a while. There’s the Blessed Mother, of course. St. Joseph. And St. Ignatius of Loyola. There’s a film coming out titled “Ignacio” based on the life of St. Ignatius. The tagline of one of its promotional posters reads: “What would you give up?”

Those who know about him would know that St. Ignatius gave up being a soldier and courtier to found one of the most influential Catholic orders, the Jesuits. At the time, of course, he didn’t know that. He didn’t know he’d become a saint. He didn’t know about the hundreds of schools that would be established based on his principles. All he had to work on was the burning desire to choose as God was calling him. And so he set foot on a journey that would take him closer to becoming the man that God dreamt he would be, one step at a time.

The question has come up in my life often enough: What would I give up? And my imaginary answers are pretty heroic too. In one of my daydreams as a child, I even ventured so far as to seek martyrdom. Although now I’m mighty grateful that the good Lord didn’t take me up on that offer. It’s easy to think of what I would give up. But the real score is what I have given up.

We’re all called to make sacrifices for the things we prize the most in our lives. I think of the sleep and peace that mothers, especially mothers I know, give up to nurse and care for a helpless baby. I think of the fathers and how they spend so much time and effort to feed their families and give their children the best opportunities.  I think of students who give up nights out to study for a career that demands so much. I think of priests and other religious who give up a comfortable family life to care for people they don’t even know.

When I look back on my life and look at the things I’ve given up to pursue the career that I’ve chosen, to be committed to my vocation, to hone my craft, to be with the people I love, I find that my greatest sacrifices have eventually led me to my deepest joys. Because the truth of the matter is, we only ever give up what is valuable to us to risk on something even more precious. And for the most part, the risks have paid off.

At the time, it didn’t seem like it. There were days when the sacrifices were difficult to bear but with God’s grace I persevered and kept the faith. That’s why I love the communion of saints. I am comforted in knowing that I have earthly and heavenly friends with me that make the difficult parts bearable. And knowing someone who’s finished the race and kept the faith and realized that the sacrifices were worth it to pray for me makes the journey a lot less daunting and so much more satisfying. And in the end, it has stopped becoming about what I would give up or even what I have given up but, really, how God has sustained me throughout it all.

“Ignacio” the movie opens on July 27 nationwide.