One day, a wealthy woman who loves paintings visited a posh local art gallery in Rome and at their display. For her, the paintings were not too impressive. It looked like it was painted by a novice.  For her, it was very abstract and modern. When she looked at the price of that painting, it cost over a million dollars.  She was impressed. She made a second tour and looked at the painting again; at that time, she had a different impression of the painting.  It became for her the most beautiful painting in the gallery this time around. She came to find out that it was an original Picasso, painted by the famous painter Pablo Picasso.

Upon reading this story, I realized that it was not how the painting looked—it was who the painter was. The picture gets its value from its creator. The more famous the creator, the more expensive the painting.

Similarly, our value comes not only from what we have or what we have achieved. Our value comes from the fact that the Almighty God is our painter. Each of us is God’s masterpiece.  We are so valuable that he even sent his only son to save us. His son, no less.

Life is about becoming and not about achieving. Too often, we focus on our wants, likes, and needs and miss the becoming. We may achieve power, possessions, and all that is mortal, but we do not know or recognize ourselves at the end of the journey as the person who wants to be closer to him.

The season of Lent is about life’s journey. It makes us look closer to God, and only by looking and connecting ourselves to God do we see our value as persons created and saved by God.

This week, we have the image of Jesus as the light of the world, indeed a time of rejoicing.  We see how God illuminates us with a bright light of hope and love—a permanent light that transcends us in everyday life, those that are ordinary.

However, the Gospel also shows us that the light came into the world, but people preferred darkness to light because their works do not reflect those of God.

We notice that our human desires are unending. Considering today’s technological overload, people seek a few actualities to define themselves.  Many of us find security in many different worldly things. May it be in money, resources, bonds, insurance, or other items.  These are good things; however, if we focus only on them as the ones that bring light to our lives, they will not be able to provide us with fulfillment. The more we are attached to worldly values, the more we are driven into the darkness. We will not be able to see our worth as human beings.