My worth as a person is not determined by what I have. My material possessions, my academic attainments, my successes, my income and my bank balance do not define my worth as an invaluable and unique human person. My worth is not determined by what’s outside myself. The bad spirit, the enemy of my human nature would have me believe otherwise. I’m infinitely richer than that. It’s so easy to get caught up in what we think we need and desire, but in the cold light of day we see the illusions for what they are. Solidarity with one another, rather than competition with one another, is God’s idea of what life is about.

Excerpted from Pathways to a Decision with Ignatius of Loyola by Jim Maher SJ (p.33)