I have long loved the song Sacrifices/Sacrificios by Tish Hinojosa.
Sacrifices/Sacrificios
by Tish Hinojosa
Sacrificios, sacramentos de la vida
Religioso, el amor un tierno altar
Mi plegaria de rodillas será esta
Que por siempre encendiera nuestro amar
Sacrifices, sacraments of life and living
Love's the altar where religiously we pray
Whispered softly like a prayer up to the heavens
Eternally our votive light will stay
Bendecido, será siempre aquel momento
Cuando yo a ti te conocí
Like a blessing, I still treasure the first moment
The sacrament of life brought you to me
Bendecido, será siempre aquel momento
Cuando yo a ti te conocí
Like a blessing, I still treasure the first moment
The sacrament of life brought you to me
El momento cuando yo te conocí
From Dreaming from the Labyrinth (1996)
This simple 3/4 song, initially accompanied by only a guitar and accordion (followed by guitarrón, horns, and violin), has such a profound sentiment.
Thanks to Mudcat Cafe for providing the lyrics.
Sacrifice: The Nuts and Bolts
Most of the standard definitions for sacrifice don’t really mesh with my understanding. They focus on the quid-pro-quo between human and god – here’s a goat, give us a good harvest.
The Wikipedia Article – Blood and Guts
Sacrifice is the offering of material possessions or the lives of animals or humans to a deity as an act of propitiation or worship. Evidence of ritual animal sacrifice has been seen at least since ancient Hebrews and Greeks, and possibly existed before that. Evidence of ritual human sacrifice can also be found back to at least pre-Columbian civilizations of Mesoamerica as well as in European civilizations. Varieties of ritual non-human sacrifices are practiced by numerous religions today.
Wikipedia
WLBOTT Word of the Day: Propitiation
Britannica
The Britannica article has a more nuanced description.
[Sacrifice is] a religious rite in which an object is offered to a divinity in order to establish, maintain, or restore a right relationship of a human being to the sacred order. It is a complex phenomenon that has been found in the earliest known forms of worship and in all parts of the world.
The term has acquired a popular and frequently secular use to describe some sort of renunciation or giving up of something valuable in order that something more valuable might be obtained; e.g., parents make sacrifices for their children, one sacrifices a limb for one’s country.
Britannica
WLBOTT 2nd Word of the Day: Renunciation
The Catholic Encyclopedia
One wonders if this article was written by George F. Will, because the intent seems to make the subject completely incomprehensible.
As the meaning and importance of sacrifice cannot be established by a priori methods, every admissible theory of sacrifice must shape itself in accordance with the sacrificial systems of the pagan nations, and especially with those of the revealed religions, Judaism and Christianity. Pure Buddhism, Mohammedanism, and Protestantism here call for no attention, as they have no real sacrifice; apart from these there is and has been no developed religion which has not accepted sacrifice as an essential portion of its cult.
New Advent
There is an arrogance that permeates this article: We’ve got it all figured out, everybody else is just a knuckle dragging pagan throwing virgins into volcanoes.
The Catholic Church also has a way of redirecting language to fit their needs. As someone who has sat through countless interminable (French: sans fin) services, the mass is definitely not a “celebration,” and the “sacrifice of the mass” was my own sacrifice of time.
A Little More Ranting about the Catholic Church
Pope Francis is a good guy, but we here at WLBOTT wish he would do a little more ass-kicking, especially among the traitorous American magaT bishops.
Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) On the Rebuke
Pope Francis and I have something in common: we both do this about 20 times a day. But I think we differ on the prayer being said. Or maybe not.
The Strongly Worded Letter
Here is the strongly worded letter. You can read the official letter here, or view the PDF here.
Sacrifices and Delayed (possibly indefinitely) Gratification
Guest commentary by Elder G:
Sacrifice can be viewed as a form of delayed gratification, especially in everyday, non-religious contexts. It’s about giving up something in the short term for a greater or more meaningful outcome in the future—for yourself or for others.
Here are a few examples that frame sacrifice as delayed gratification:
- Parenting – Parents sacrifice time, sleep, and personal goals to ensure their children thrive. The payoff is often seeing their children succeed or simply grow into happy adults.
- Education – Students who sacrifice leisure time to focus on studies are delaying immediate rewards for long-term academic and career success.
- Acts of service – Helping someone at a personal cost (money, time, or energy) creates a deeper, often mutual sense of connection and well-being in the long run.
- Environmental choices – Sacrificing convenience (like driving less or consuming fewer resources) for the greater good of future generations reflects delayed gratification on a communal scale.
Some Pretty AI That Didn’t Make It Into the BLOTT
