SURPASSING JOY AND SELF-WORTH

Reflection for Thursday of the 31^st Week in Ordinary Time, Year A
(Phil 3:3-8; Lk 15:1-10)

There is certain level of self-worth we feel when we make some life achievements, both morally and physically. To the extent that we take pleasure in these ‘breakthroughs’, they can boost our self-confidence. St Paul used himself as an example and recounted the great achievements he had made, and how he would have been recognized as a great observer of the Law. However, on receiving Jesus into his life, Paul wrote, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”

Now, is the knowledge of Christ Jesus you have today strong enough to hold your self-worth and self-confidence? Think about the things that you take pleasure in, and the things through which you express yourself and find relevance. Is your faith in Christ Jesus among them? In other words, does your relationship with Jesus give you self-confidence and self-relevance? If yes, the joy of such encounter is heavenly!

Think about the heavenly joy over one repentant sinner in the parable of the lost sheep, or the joy of the woman who found her lost coin. Imagine the surpassing joy the Shepherd had over the one lost sheep. What sort of joy the woman had over the one coin she found, such that it appears she spent the other coins to throw a party to celebrate the one she found! This is a sign of the kind of overwhelming joy that Heaven projects towards each of us. Receiving Jesus as St Paul did will become for each of us an encounter with the surpassing value God has placed on each of His Children.

There is joy in knowing Christ Jesus; the surpassing great worth and joy floods our hearts at every knowledge of Christ we gain each day, and it gives us the highest self-esteem and confidence. That is why we must strive each day to deepen our knowledge of Christ Jesus through meditation and study. Then, our joy and self-worth will stand secure, and the loss of anything below cannot knock us off balance, Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!

 

Fr Jude Chinwenwa Nwachukwu, C.Ss.R
Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church,
Tedi-Muwo, Lagos.
Thursday November 5^th, 2020.
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