Marielle Ignacio DeTorres

Worth is a concept that I’ve struggled with for a long time because it is so tempting to measure our worth based on visible numbers. Age, height, weight, zip code, job grade, tax bracket, net worth, and the pieces of medals and degrees on our walls are just a few of the typical metrics that our society uses to gauge our natural attributes and hard-won achievements.

Numbers describe us, but cannot define us.

What they fail to reveal is the true nature of our worth. It is too simplistic and reductive to measure our value based on our present-day merit or on our inherited genetic make-up and family standing. The truth is that we don’t have much control on either, no matter how much we can influence it. The past cannot be undone, in the same way that the present cannot be immediately remedied.

In a free, democratic culture, there may be a cap on our potential based on our personal circumstances that limit what we can accomplish, but there is still room for accomplishing great things beyond one’s stature. With access to the right connections, impeccable timing, and a stroke of good luck, we may just be on the verge of a next big discovery. On the other hand, there is always the possibility of a fortuitous event that can run us to the ground: the prevalent health crises, natural calamities, as well as the ever-looming economic catastrophes and political threats that our media likes to parade as possibly the inevitable end of the world. All of which again, we have little control over, let alone any idea of what’s for sure to come.

Catholics define human worth relative to its Maker.

In the Catholic faith, we believe that each of us has been assigned an inherent value because we walk on this earth as created beings made on the likeness of the Divine. We are worthy just because we exist. We were fearfully designed by God; and we are worthy because we have a little bit of God’s image in us, just like how a child resembles the parent.

For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well. – Psalm 139:13-14

On top of this, the faithful believe that we are worth the Love who is everlasting and in constant pursuit of our hearts. John 3:16 states that:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him may not perish, but have everlasting life.

We are worth so much that even God Himself was willing to sacrifice His Most Beloved – His Only Son – to show us clearly our value and give us access to eternal life. Our souls are worth more than what we think. The soul is made for the eternal, and will outlast our human bodies in the spiritual plane. We only need to look at Jesus Crucified to see how far God Himself was willing to go to redeem His creation, allowing us to have a semblance of our own worth.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. – Matt 10:29-31

Yes, there is some brokenness in us, but we do not need to be perfect to be deemed worthy in the eyes of God. We are enough as we are, and God calls us to live a changed life. Our worth hinges on God Himself who justifies whom He calls. This is why Catholics have hope to strive for better, and it’s linked to knowing the character of God. We know that He loves us and treats us – together with our faults and shortcomings – with mercy and grace. The more we work to grow in this fundamental relationship with The One who made us, the more we gain understanding of who God designed us to become.