How Much Is a Human Worth?

At mid-century prices, an iron ingot sold for $5. Made into horseshoes, its value was $10.50. Manufactured into needles, its value jumped to $5,000. Crafted into high-grade balance springs for watches, it’s worth a quarter of a million dollars!

Workmanship of a human enhances the value of the most ordinary material. But what is the value of the human workman “made…a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned…with glory and honor” (Ps 8:5)? The decline of morality according to James Reston, is due to the “decline in the belief in each person as something precious.” Value-regard is the soil of love – the criterion by which all men will know that we are Jesus’ disciples (see John 13:35). The challenge is to “not love [merely] with words or or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 Jn 3:18).

There are countless ways to do this: a father devoting as much time and interest to his wife and children as to his job; a mother radiating inspiration, as only she can, to her children; a student studying diligently to be better prepared to change the world by his chosen profession; the nurse who shows that the “unwritten ingredient in each prescription is love”; the mechanic who enjoys making cars safer for others; the politician who puts truth and justice above the garnishing of votes; the writer who seeks to uplift, not downgrade, the ideals of his readers; the “everyman” who cultivates love wherever it isn’t thriving.

This excerpt is from the book One-Minute Meditations for Busy People, by John H. Hampsch, C.M.F., originally published by Servant Publications. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/video recordings can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408 or www.Catholicbooks.net