ABOUT ENVY

FEBRUARY 23, 2008

Continuing our Lenten reflection on the roots of sin in our lives, let us now consider envy.

Envy, or jealousy, is the sin that carries with it, its own perpetual punishment. The envious are condemned to never being content, regardless of how successful, healthy, wealthy, famous, or fortunate they may be. They die the daily death of sadness and resentment from wanting to be what they are not, and to have what they have not.

Envy is a disposition of the discontented heart that leads to many other kinds of transgression. It is prohibited by the Ninth and Tenth Commandments: “Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Wife,” and “Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor’s Goods.” Once corrupt or inordinate desires are allowed to enter the heart, they poison the mind, and lead to the sins prohibited by the other Commandments of the Decalogue, including especially murder, sexual transgressions, stealing, and bearing false witness. The envious person seeks to take what does not belong to him, or to bring harm to those who have what he lacks.

In the Bible, it was envy that moved Cain to kill Abel, and Jacob to steal his brother Esau’s blessing from their father, Isaac. King Saul was happy when his people shouted, "Saul has slain his thousands." But when they added, "and David his ten thousands" (1 Samuel 18:7-8), Saul became envious, and from that moment began to try to kill David.

It was envy that caused Jesus’ Apostles to quarrel among themselves over who was the greatest, prompting Jesus to teach them that the greatest was the one who made himself the least (Lk 9:46-48). Recognizing the folly of envy, Jesus told the story of the guests who sought the highest places of honor at a banquet. He instructed them to take the lowest place, to avoid the possible embarrassment of being dismissed to a lower place (Lk 14:7-14).

The Gospel of Matthew noted that Pontius Pilate knew that “it was out of envy” (27:18) that the religious leaders had handed Jesus over to be put to death. What greater evil in all of history was ever caused by any other sin? None. Envy perpetrated the greatest injustice and evil of all time! In fact, St. Augustine identified envy as the diabolical sin, that is, the sin of the devil, because it was envy of God’s supreme majesty, goodness, and glory that led Lucifer to rebel against him: “How you have fallen from the heavens,... son of the dawn!... You said in your heart, ‘I will scale the heavens... I will set up my throne... I will be like the Most High’... Yet down to the nether world you go, to the recesses of the pit!” (Isaiah 14:12-14).

In today’s world, envy is the sin that a drives our consumer-based society of “created needs”. “Keeping up” with what others own separates a lot of people from their hard earned money.

Envy is also the sin hidden behind today’s impulse to reject God’s authority over us, and to set aside the Ten Commandments in a false claim to autonomy, with the supposed right to determine what’s right and wrong “for me”. It is also the sin behind the false argument that God’s moral law cannot be a basis for civil law, but only the will and vote of the majority. In consequence, the appearance is made of strict respect for constitutionality and law, but the right to life is denied to the innocent unborn.

There is an element of self-hatred hidden in envy. The envious do not accept themselves as they are, and are inclined to resent or hate the fact that they are not someone else, or do not have what someone else has.

There’s nothing wrong with saying, “I wish I had a million dollars,” or “I wish I could be famous.” Envy involves resentment at not having what we want, and a bitter feeling that life is not fair because of it. In a misdirected attempt the correct the perceived injustice, the envious person is tempted to punish others in some way for what they have, or to think, “If I can’t climb up to where they are, I’ll drag them down to where I am.” The envious person not only condemns those who are or have more, he also seeks to execute them. The glee of the envious is to discover a fault or flaw in an honorable person, and broadcast it to the world.
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The heart of the problem of the envy is in thinking God made a mistake or cheated us in creating us as we are. The envious person lacks awareness of his loveliness in God’s eyes, and does not know God’s love. Escape from the torment of envy is through the path of discovery of God’s love, by turning toward him with our whole mind, heart, strength, and being. When God’s love enters the heart, envy leaves it, for “Love is not jealous” (1 Cor 13:4). St. Teresa of Avila put it this way: “Al que tiene Dios, no le falta nada” (Whoever has God lacks nothing).

+Bishop Raymundo J. Peña

last updated 26-Feb-2008 10:42 sitemap