We have entered the second week of Lent. Most of us are hopefully at least ankle-deep in Lenten devotions, carving time out of daily schedules for prayer, fasting and almsgiving. 
Just in case you need a little motivation, perhaps you could be inspired by Christ’s Summons to His would-be followers:
If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and pick up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? — Matthew 16: 24-26
Christ does not mince words here. We can slice and dice this quote all we want; but as Christians, we are called to love with a special kind of devotion. We are called to give everything, without holding back. Sometimes it’s hard to comprehend the lengths to which we are asked to extend ourselves. Perhaps the quotes below will help to inspire you to desire the love that He desires for you; if not, perhaps at the very least they will provoke a deeper reflection of your Christian vocation:
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The sacrifice the good Lord wants of us is to die to ourselves. – St. Charles of Sezze
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A sacrifice to be real must hurt, and must empty ourselves. Give yourself fully to God. He will use you to accomplish great things on the condition that you believe much more in His love than in your weakness. — Saint Teresa of Calcutta
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He gave Himself wholly to you: He left nothing for Himself. – Saint John Chrysostom
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There is no place for selfishness-and no place for fear! Do not be afraid, then, when love makes demands. Do no be afraid when love requires sacrifice. — Pope John Paul II
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The day men forget that love is synonymous with sacrifice, that day they will ask what selfish sort of woman it must have been who ruthlessly extracted tribute in the form of flowers, or what an avaricious creature she must have been who demanded solid gold in the form of a ring, just as they will ask what cruel kind of God is it who asks for sacrifice and self-denial. — Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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In the cross alone do we find the soul’s eternal salvation and hope of everlasting life. Take up your cross, therefore, and follow Jesus and you will pass into unending life. — Thomas A’ Kempis
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The more intense the love, the less we think of a sacrifice involved to secure what we love. — Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love. — Saint Teresa of Calcutta
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I have seen clearly what I can do in my own corner of life. Above all, to work on myself, to try to develop in myself all the instincts God has given me; to strengthen my will by regular work; to elevate my soul unceasingly by sacrifice and the acceptance of my usual sufferings, and by a constant and tender sympathy for all who approach me. — Elisabeth Leseur
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Love is the soul of sacrifice. — Archbishop Fulton Sheen
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It is right to offer sacrifice to God as a sign of adoration and gratitude, supplication and communion: “Every action done so as to cling to God in communion of holiness, and thus achieve blessedness, is a true sacrifice.” — CCC #2099 (quoting St. Augustine)
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