A well-known speaker began a seminar by holding up a $20 bill. He asked the audience, “Who would like to have this $20 bill?” Hands started going up.
He then said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you, but first, let me do this.” He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” The hands remained in the air.
“Well,” he added, “What if I do this?” He dropped it to the floor and proceeded to grind it with his shoe. He picked it up, crumpled and dirty. “Now who still wants it?” Still a few hands were raised because the bill had not decreased in value. It was still worth $20.
Many times, in our lives, we feel crumpled and ground into the dirt by the decisions we make and the circumstances that come our way. We feel as though we are worthless.
No matter what has happened to us, however, we never lose our value in God’s eyes. The worth of our lives comes not in what we do or who we are, but from Him to whom we belong!
We are special – let us never forget it! This is the lesson of today’s Gospel, which tells us how Jesus chose Peter to be the leader of his Church, even though Peter had denied him three times.
Father Joseph Dovari