Some things truly are priceless. You may pay a lot of your hard-earned income to have a home, furnish it for comfort, feed the people who live there, and enjoy the amenities of life. You know the cost of the things you own.

But some things are priceless - the children who play, the people who love you, experiences of friendship, the wonder of creation, fresh air, freedom, and faith.

At Easter it becomes evident that something else is priceless. We are. Jesus offered himself up to death for something that was priceless to him. The first letter of Peter says, “You were ransomed from your futile conduct . . . not with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood of Christ.” Jesus’ own life was more precious than silver and gold, and he gave it up for what he valued: humanity.

At Easter we learn again how precious human life is. We come to a new realization of who we are and how much we mean to the God who made us. We are loved.

As we look around at other people, we see some we know well and some who are strangers. We see people we love and people we ignore. We see people in need and people of plenty. But if we see them as God sees them, we see people of value. Let us live in reverence of the life we have and the life we see. It is priceless.

Written by Paul Turner. Liturgy Training Publications
Copyright 2004, Archdiocese of Chicago