“What is your worth? What dignity do you have?” – Reflection by Kevin Lenius

What is your worth? What dignity do you have?

Very often in our lives, we forget our great dignity and place God in a box constructed out of our sin. A box that does not welcome filth.

Yet, in today’s Gospel, we find the father welcoming his son, filth and all, and a celebration commences. God welcomes the sinner! He longs for our return, takes us to himself, forgives, and cries with joy. In God’s eyes, we are worth so much more than we realize.

We must break open that box that denies God his celebration. When we are weighed down by our sin, we deny our own worth, judging God to be unwelcoming of us or any other sinner.

When we approach God in humility, confess our sinfulness, and let God have His celebration, we will then be filled with joy at his forgiving hand. He will place a ring on our finger, sandals on our broken, bare feet, and a robe of glory upon our shoulders. Then we will remember how loving Christ is, and that “this man welcomes sinners, and eats with them.”

Kevin Lenius is senior at Conception Seminary College and studies for the Diocese of San Angelo. After discovering the gift of adoration and a loving youth group, he felt the call to priesthood during his junior year of high school. Aside from his usual pursuits of prayer and study, he enjoys reading and playing the occasional fiddle tune on his violin.