PRIDE IS THE ROOT OF ENVY - 8/17/22 (Wednesday of the Twentieth Week of Ordinary Time)

Matthew 20:15b

“Are you envious because I am generous?”  

For the full readings, click here: 

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/081622.cfm

Blessed Wednesday! It is not wrong for us to desire what is good for ourselves. However, when we see the blessings of other people, we may compare ourselves with them and fall to the temptation of envy. This happens when we become sad, and even lead to our anger, because of what other people have. Jesus is teaching us to not be envious because God is generous. To believe in the generosity of God means that we will praise Him when He shares the blessings to many people. As such, to desire that our neighbors should not be fortunate leads to the rejection of the goodness and mercy of God for all of us. We may see the truth that Christ teaches us about envy while we may admit the difficulty of following Him on this aspect. It just seems easy to be envious of other people. To be cured of envy, we need to know its root cause, and that is pride. Knowing how pride affects us will help us in our journey towards humility and gratefulness. There are at least two instances when our pride leads us to fall to envy. 

First, we may fall to the temptation of spiritual envy. This is a sin in which we become sad when we see that other people receive graces from God, when we see their virtues or their holiness. This spiritual envy may also intensify when we see that others seem to be better than us when it comes to doing God's will. Because of our pride due to our fallen human nature, we may desire to be better than other people. This happens when we think that spiritual life is a competition against other people while thinking that we are deserving to be holier than others because we think we do better than them. However, humility will teach us that we are undeserving based on our own strength because grace is a gift. Our sins should remind us of our weakness and dependence on God. It is only out of mercy that our Lord grants us the gift of salvation. Through humility, we will be grateful that God grants us opportunities to repent and to start a new life. And, we will also be grateful to Him when we see how God transforms the lives of other people, even if they become holier than us, because we recognize that the journey to heaven is not a competition, but it's cooperation and communion with one another in union with God. 

Second, we can also be envious towards one another when we think that we do not have blessings unlike others. Some people may compare their houses with their neighbors, their income with their co-workers, their achievements with their friends, etc. When we see that other people seem to be financially successful while we struggle, it may cause us to be envious and even despair thinking that God doesn't provide blessings for us. However, persevering in humility will give us hope and not discouragement or despair during these situations. The truth is that God continually gives us His blessings, and we need to look at them more closely by His grace. He gives us many gifts, but His blessings are not limited to material things. His blessings are not meant just for our own sake, but it's for us to glorify Him. As such, humility will lead us to praise Him even when we experience difficulties because we recognize through our reflection that God gives us opportunities to be more dependent on Him, to be detached from the world, and to unite our sacrifices with the sacrifice of Christ. Even if others seem to have more finance than us, we remain grateful to God because He shares this opportunity to other people to use their money and other blessings for His glory, and we entrust everything to His will. If we still struggle with pride and envy, recognizing them and resolving to do better by God's grace and through prayers and sacraments are the beginning of humility. In this way, we can focus on the salvation that God offers to everyone because He remains faithful to us even though we are not always faithful to Him. 

Amen +

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

 

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Reflection by: Dominic

A Testimony on Rosary:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=FFyRwJBExMk

Summary of the Teachings of the Catholic Church:

https://www.catholic.com/tract/pillar-of-fire-pillar-of-truth

Ultimate Catholic Parents Guide:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ls6IcexZAls

Examination of Conscience and Guide to Sacrament of Confession:

https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/examination-of-conscience/