Valuable

Father held a crisp twenty-dollar bill and asked the congregation if anyone wanted it, all hands went up in the air synonymously.  Then father crinkled the bill in his palm and once again asked who wanted the twenty, the same hands shot up in the air.  Then Father, threw the bill to the ground and grinded it underneath his feet, then he picked it up and asked one final time if anyone wanted it and the same amount of hands remained raised.  So, Father asked the community why they still wanted the twenty, even when it was in such bad shape.  “Because it’s still has value,” one brave soul exclaimed. 

“That’s right!” Father exclaimed, “Even when it’s dirty, trampled on, in bad shape money does not lose its value.” In the eyes of God, we are all like that twenty-dollar-bill that no matter what shape we are in we never lose our worth.  In times of trial and tribulation when we feel insecure and less than- we just need to remember the sacrifice of the cross.  Jesus didn’t die only for the perfect, for those who had their lives in order – God sacrificed His son so that we would all have eternal life: “God so loved the world that He gave his one and only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”  Everyone- God’s plan is all-inclusive.

When Dollar was alive, he would follow me and look at me with such unconditional love, whether I was in gym clothes or in a pretty dress, whether I had combed my hair or it was a mess on my head, whether I felt well or insecure my little dog would look at me with eyes of deep love.  Sometimes when I was feeling extra melancholic, I would take his little head in both hands look at him straight in the eye and say, “I wish I could find someone who would love me the way you do.”  Sometimes, I too forget that I am loved even more deeply by God. 

I’ve been going to eight-thirty Mass daily, on Friday I couldn’t make it and I was punishing myself for not having gone.  I felt like I had let God down, then I realized that God loves me in a way that I can't even imagine.  He doesn’t get angry when I fail, in fact He gave His Church the Sacrament of Reconciliation for when we fall because His mercy is infinite.  Sometimes, all of us are out of shape, crinkled, dirty, trampled on… in such bad shape that we feel unworthy of love.  Yet, He tells us come to Him all who are burdened and heavy – "I will give you rest."  Unlike the world, who only loves success stories, to God I am loved simply because I exist.  My worth has nothing to do with my accomplishments, my physical beauty, the size of my bank account…  God loves me simply because I exist, one of my favorite love songs sings “gracias por existir.”  Even though God was the one who created me He still whispers in my ear, “Thank you for existing.”  (smile)