Oh, Brother

Seeing another’s dignity as a child of God  

Matthew 16:24-28  

Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life? For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay each according to his conduct. Amen, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”   

          It’s fascinating to figure out how folks measure their self-worth, as well as the value they put on others. Some people measure with money. They ask: “What is your net worth?” For instance, George Lucas, the movie mogul, is worth $5.1 billion, Oprah Winfrey is worth $3.2 billion, and Sir Paul McCartney is estimated at only $1.2 billion -- poor Paul! And these are not even the richest people in the world.   

          Other people put a high price on music. Have you seen that hilarious movie called “Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou”? In one scene, the three hapless heroes are driving along and pick up a young black man named Tommy Johnson. Tommy explains that he has sold his soul to the devil in exchange for learning how to play the guitar “real good.” Delmar is shocked by this unblessed bargain and asks, “Oh, son, for that you sold your everlasting soul??” Poor Tommy simply says, “Well, I wasn’t using it anyway.” Did you catch that – he wasn’t using his soul anyway. But Tommy measured his self-worth in music; he was willing to sell his soul to play the guitar.   

          In the gospel today, Jesus weighs in on the question of human dignity; how to measure a man or a woman’s worth.  He rhetorically asks his apostles: “What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” To make sure they caught the question, he asks it again: “What can one give in exchange for his life.” In other words, he’s asking, “What are you worth?” Do you measure yourself by money, or by music, or by some other standard? And then Jesus explains that when he returns in glory, each person will be repaid according to their conduct. That is, don’t measure yourself by your cash, but by your conduct.   

          My friends, have you noticed how as soon as we see someone, we sort of “size them up,” and begin to put a price on them? We judge them by their clothes – especially when they’re at Mass! – or by the car they drive, or by the house they live in, or by the books they’ve published! When I traveled with my parents to India recently, I’d sneak a peek at people’s passports, and smile to myself because I had an American passport, which is infinitely superior, of course. Do we look down on others because they are undocumented or illegal aliens? Against all such easy but erroneous evaluations, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches in no. 1700, “The dignity of the human person is rooted in his creation in the image of God.” In other words, each person is of infinite value and worth, whether you have a billion dollars or you can barely buy a bus ticket.   

          The next time you see someone, go ahead and size them up. But don’t measure them by money or music, or by their brains or their brawn or their beauty. Look deeper than their cash and see their conduct, the conduct of someone created in the image of God.   

          Praised be Jesus Christ!