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Pope: Sacrifices are possible if they have meaning. Young person: "Jesus invited the rich young man to leave everything and follow Him, but he went away sad. I like him also find it hard to follow, …More
Pope: Sacrifices are possible if they have meaning.

Young person: "Jesus invited the rich young man to leave everything and follow Him, but he went away sad. I like him also find it hard to follow, because I'm afraid to leave my things and sometimes the Church asks difficult sacrifices of me. Holy Father, how can I find the strength to make courageous decisions and who can help me?"
Benedict XVI: "Let us begin with perhaps what is a difficult word for us: sacrifice. Sacrifices are possible and even become beautiful at the end if they have a reason, and if this reason justifies even the difficulty of the sacrifice. In this context, St. Paul used the image of the Olympics and the athletes committed to the Olympics. He tells them that to finally arrive - we say today at the medal, at that time it was the crown, they must endure a very hard discipline, they must give up many things, they must really practice this sport they do. They make great sacrifices and disciplines because they have a reason, it's worth it in the end, even if they may not end up among the winners. However, it is a beautiful thing to have disciplined himself and to be able to do these things with a degree of perfection. And the same that is true with this image of St. Paul for the Olympics, also applies to all other parts of life. A good professional life can not be reached without sacrifices, without adequate preparation, which always requires a disciplined structure and demands that I must give up something. And so also in art, in all aspects of life, we all understand that to reach a goal, whether professional, or in sports or it its artistic cultural, we must sacrifice, learn, and go forward even in the art of living, in being oneself. The art of being a man demands sacrifices and true sacrifices help us to find the way of life, the art of life. There are instructions in God's word and they help, shall we say, not to fall into the abyss of drugs, of alcohol, into sexuality slavery, or the slavery of money, or of laziness. All of these things at first appear as free actions, but in reality. they are not actions of freedom but the beginning of a slavery which becomes more and more insurmountable. And by sacrificing to overcoming these temptations of the moment, to go forward towards the good, creates true freedom and makes life precious."