Self or Sacrifice? The Meaning of Mortification on the Eve of Lent
MASS Esto mihi in Deum protectórem
LESSON 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
GOSPEL St Luke 18:31-43
HOMILIST Mt Revd Jerome Lloyd OSJV
Beloved in Christ,
Today is Shrove Tuesday — known variously as Mardi Gras, Fat Tuesday, or here most familiarly as Pancake Day. In the traditional discipline of the Church, it was the final opportunity to use what would not be consumed during Lent: butter, oil, eggs, dairy. Hence the custom of pancakes. But behind the custom lies something far deeper than cookery.
Why does the Church call us to fast? Why does Lent carry with it particular disciplines of diet and abstinence? What is the purpose of mortification?
Chiefly, it is the mortification of the flesh — and that phrase can sound harsh, even archaic. It conjures images of medieval severity, of extremes and excess. Yet we misunderstand the word if we interpret it only through those caricatures.
Consider how we still use the word mortified. When we are deeply ashamed, when we recognise we have done wrong, we say, “I am mortified.” When we are shocked by wrongdoing, we say we were mortified. In both cases, the word implies a sudden awakening — a recognition that something is not as it should be.
That is the true heart of Christian mortification: awakening. Recognition. Reordering.
Fasting is not a declaration that food is evil. It is not contempt for the body. The Church does not expect us to replicate the forty-day fast of Our Lord in the desert without food. Rather, she calls us to imitate Him in spirit — to discipline the flesh so that it does not dominate the soul.
In our age, even the secular world has rediscovered the physical benefits of fasting. Periodic abstinence is praised for health and longevity. That may be a happy coincidence. But Christian fasting aims at something higher: spiritual clarity and freedom.
Mortification is not merely about food. It concerns all worldly attachments that risk becoming disordered. Food can become an obsession. So can fashion, appearance, possessions, reputation, entertainment, social media, influence. None of these things is evil in itself. But any of them can become an idol.
The danger is not in enjoying God’s gifts. The danger lies in allowing them to displace God.
We are all too capable of pleasing ourselves. We are all too ready to ask, “What do I want?” rather than “What does God will?” A simple spiritual test is this: self or sacrifice? Am I doing this to serve myself — or to offer something to God?
If the primary motivation is self-satisfaction, it is likely disordered. The Christian instinct must be sacrifice — sacrifice offered as love.
And here we touch a deeper question that troubles many in our time: moral objectivity. Increasingly we hear, “It feels right to me,” or “That may be true for you, but not for me.” Yet Christianity does not rest upon subjective feeling. It rests upon divine revelation.
God has spoken. His commandments are not suggestions tailored to personal preference. The Gospel is not a private interpretation of morality. If we believe that Christ is the Word made flesh, if we believe the Scriptures are inspired by God, then what He declares true is true for all.
Our feelings do not determine reality. Rather, we are called to conform our feelings and our understanding to reality as revealed by God.
This was the lesson of the parable of the sower. The seed — the Word of God — is generously given. It must be received into the soil of our souls, nourished by grace, and allowed to transform us. Our lives are not our own. They are gifts. And the only worthy return we can offer is the gift of ourselves.
Saint Paul expresses the goal of the Christian life when he writes: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” That is not poetic exaggeration. It is the ultimate aim: to be so united to Christ that His life shapes ours.
This unity requires self-denial. Our Lord is explicit: “If anyone would be My disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” Deny himself. Not indulge himself. Not redefine the path. Deny himself.
Lent is about returning to that fundamental truth.
It is a season given by Holy Mother Church to remind us what it means to be Christian. Why we are Christian. What the point of our lives is.
Self or sacrifice?
That question must guide our Lenten observance. Yesterday we reflected that our practices must not be empty religiosity or mere duty. They must be acts of love — sacrificial love. The question each of us must ask is this: what am I unwilling to sacrifice for God?
Tomorrow, at the Ash Wednesday Mass, we will hear the prophet Joel call us to return to the Lord with all our hearts. With all our hearts — not partially, not conditionally.
And yet how often we hold something back. Our Lord warns that whoever loves father or mother, husband or wife, possessions or self more than Him cannot be His disciple. That is not cruelty; it is clarity. God must be first.
Very few of us truly fulfil the first commandment — loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We cling to comfort, to pride, to autonomy. Lent exposes these attachments.
We must keep it simple.
Strive to see clearly — not through the haze of excuses and mitigating circumstances, but through the objective light of the Gospel. Seek to live for God. Seek to correct and rebalance your relationship with Him. Deepen your knowledge of Christ. Follow Him more nearly, love Him more dearly, and allow yourself to be transformed into His likeness.
Our Lord tells us, “When you fast” — not if you fast — “when you pray, when you give alms.” These are assumed disciplines. But He commands that they be done quietly, without ostentation, without trumpeting virtue.
True mortification is hidden. True sacrifice is interior.
And yet, paradoxically, such hidden faith bears visible fruit. Others may see good works and glorify the Father in heaven. As in the Gospel, when the blind man received his sight, the people gave praise to God.
So too may our Lenten observance — humble, sincere, sacrificial — lead others not to admire us, but to glorify God.
Let this holy season not be reduced to dietary adjustment or seasonal self-denial. Let it be a reorientation of the heart. A rediscovery of objectivity in morality. A recommitment to sacrificial love.
Self or sacrifice?
Choose sacrifice. Choose love. Choose Christ.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
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