21 June, Sunday — What is my worth?

12^th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jer 20:10-13
Rm 5:12-15
Mt 10:26-33

“…you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.”

One of the activities I usually run during Catechism lessons is something like the gameshow The Price is Right. For those of us who may have been born more recently, it is a gameshow where contestants are asked to guess the price of an object, and they select the one who guesses closest to the price. So, in the class, I would show some items and ask them to guess the price. Some of the objects I would show are those which the children are familiar with: phones, bags, collectibles, game pieces. I would also show them other auctioned-off items like Dorothy’s Ruby slippers, or Marilyn Monroe’s dress.

In the process, we would discuss what drove those prices – i.e., what would make us pay more for those items. The usual answers will be quality of materials, usability, rareness, and even if a famous person owned those pieces.

And then, I would invite them to think if they were part of the game, what price would they be worth?

I would like to pose this question to each one of us reflecting today. On top of that, I would also like to add the question, ‘How is my worth determined?’

As Catholics, many of us would have the head knowledge that we are priceless. We’ve heard about it. But I’m not sure how many of us live our everyday lives with this knowledge in mind. I’m not sure how many of us have been living our lives differently because of this assurance that we received from our heavenly Father.

If we think we are living our lives like we forgot how much we’re worth, we should not be too hard on ourselves. The world around us has made it so easy for us to think that our worth is tied to how productive we are, or how high we are in the career ladder, or how much is in our bank account, or whether we can afford luxuries in life such as business class flights. And when the worries of this world catch up to us, we panic and act as if God is not in control of everything.

So how is our worth determined? Maybe there are two criteria that our world got right. First, how rare are we? Each one of us is created unique. There will never be another you or me. Each one of us has been dreamed up by God, to be one of a kind.

But I think the deeper question would be who owns us. If, in our world, whoever used to own something would set the price, then since we belong to God — who created everything we see — how much would we be worth? A pink diamond called Pink Star was recently sold for $71.2 million. Our heavenly Father owns far more diamonds. I can’t even think of how much we are worth, simply because we belong to our Father.

And the greatest thing is that we are not just owned by the Father; we are loved by the Father. So, brothers and sisters, I pray we can keep this in mind as we go about our day, each and every day.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Stephanie Villa)

Prayer: Father, help me live my life in a way that shows I know I’m wonderfully made.

Thanksgiving: Thank you, Father, for making me so precious.