Your Worth Is Not Something You Have to Earn — Homily — Bishop Edward M. Rice
"The culture says, "Hook up. Drink up. Light up. Smoke it. Do whatever you need to do in order to feel good about yourself."
But it is an insidious lie, because in the end, it feels that we can never accomplish what we're striving for, and we become hopeless.
We're achieving what we can never achieve, never feeling that we're good enough, always feeling inadequate according to the standards of the world.
Our worth isn't built on accomplishments or external appearances, or anything else that the world has to offer, because all of these things pass away.
Our worth is rooted in our identity as children of God.
Friday night we sang that song with those powerful words: "In my father's house, there is a place for me. I'm a child of God. Yes, I am."
It expresses our deepest worth as flowing from Christ.
We are chosen, not forsaken. We are who you say we are. We are worthy."
Bishop Edward M. Rice
Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau