4 POSSIBLE CAUSES THAT HINDER ONE TO EXERCISE SACRIFICE

The virtue of Sacrifice nowadays is a rare fact. Laying one’s life for a friend nowadays seems like very alien to us. It sounds like an old-school mentality. As you may have noticed, this is probably the reason why such expression like, “Wa nay uso paka-hero ron bai” come into its birth. Perhaps we might be confused about my proposition (the first sentence in this paragraph) but what I mean here is the genuine sacrifice that we have learned from Christ’s example. Yes we may claim that we have been practicing this particular virtue in our life, most especially in our day-to-day existence, but we focus only in, to, and for ourselves. We don’t even bother to extend our concerns to others. As to what I observe in the society today, we seem like going back to the primitive mentality of Survival of the Fittest—the time when man treats another man as wolf as Hobbes would say it. Man is only concern for his own survival and anyone who attempts and becomes threat for his goods, he kills. This animalistic tendency of man appears so dominant nowadays. Perhaps, based from your observations with regards to the current issues in our country would somehow support my argument—reality of corruption  in our government and church leaders, rampant cases of rape and drugs, never ending massacre and bombings in Mindanao, incurable poverty, and the like. Perhaps, if all men are just like Christ, firm and consistent in his principles and virtues in life, we would have lived a better and harmonious life. We would have lived a selfless environment. This may sound exaggerated, but this is the ideal thing to do. If man just knows how to value sacrifice and make it part of him, then, it wouldn’t be a chaotic world.

From here, let us try to reflect and exhaust all the possible causes why the virtue of sacrifice seems like vanishing in the realms of the majority today. First, it could perhaps be the emerging situations and circumstances that one faces in his day to day life—situations which are very dynamic in nature. Second, it could be the ‘trend’, in the sense that most of the people prioritize those that could make them happy, even if they are temporal and immoral. Third would be ‘insecurities and pride’ which are very innate in us. Fourth, it could also be the lack of Prayer and discernment. These are just some of the possible causes which I think hinder and which create barrier for one to exercise the virtue of sacrifice.