St. Ephrem the Syrian on whether we sacrifice ourselves for Christ.

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President John F. Kennedy famously said, "Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country." St. Ephrem the Syrian says something similar about our relationship with Christ:

On that dreadful and amazing day, You shall say to us sinners, O Lord: 'You men know well what I have undergone for you; what have you suffered for Me?'...The martyrs will point to their wounds, their sufferings, the severed parts of their bodies...The ascetics will point to their asceticism, to their long fasts and vigils, to their liberality...But I, idle, sinful, transgressing as I am, what shall I be able to point to? Spare me, O merciful One! Spare me, O Thou Lover of mankind!

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