"Sacrifices Most Pleasing"

These are the sacrifices most pleasing to God: mercy, humility, praise, peace, charity. ~St. Augustine

I came across the above this morning while praying the Office of Readings. It appeared in the second reading, which was from a commentary on Psalm 95 by St. Augustine (go to this page at Universalis and scroll to bottom for full reading), and it gave me some good food for thought and prayer. When I think of a sacrifice primarily in terms of giving up something, at first glance there does not seem to be anything terribly sacrificial about mercy, humility, praise, peace and charity. However, if I think some more about it, I find plenty of things that I can and must give up if I am offer to God these sacrifices that St. Augustine says are most pleasing to him. Being merciful demands that I forgo criticizing and judging others as well as myself. Humility requires that I relinquish my ego with all its inordinate desires. Praise calls for me to release all complaining, both in words and in thoughts. And charity, the greatest of all, obliges me to forsake anything and everything that does not embody the love of God that has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom 5:5). In fact, it is the Holy Spirit who makes holy my little offerings and transforms them into "an offering in spirit and in truth" so that I might become a living sacrifice of praise to the glory of God. AMEN! ALLELUIA!

Dear Lord, let me choose the sacrifices most pleasing to you rather than the ones that I prefer. Amen.