The Green-eyed Monster called "Envy"

Today I will no longer talk about vampires. I’ll tell you about a monster that creeps in us and many times we may not be aware of it…. It’s the green-eyed monster. A realtor offers you half-a-million dollars in cash for your year old townhouse you bought for 250K. What would you do? Sell it… But then you find out out that the ones on your right and on your left were offered a million each. What would you do? It’s not fair, so you complain and fight for what you think is rightfully yours. And you think you are fighting for justice, but then the real issue is that you are envious. That’s Envy – the green-eyed monster.

We hear in the parable of today: “Are you envious because I am generous”? The first batch of workers had agreed upon a set wage. The subsequent batches of workers were promised a fair wage. Thus, there was no question of injustice. They were paid according to what they had agreed. The sore point came when those who did the least amount of work got the same as those who did a full day’s work. The question is not about justice or fairness but of envy.

Envy is something which afflicts all of us. It is the Green-eyed monster. In Shakespeare’s Othello and Merchant of Venice, this green-eyed monster is “jealousy and envy.” But in Marvel Superheroes, it is called the Incredible Hulk, a good and kind man named Bruce Banner will at times turn into this green-eyed monster over which he has no control of and this Hulk destroys things along his path without reason. That’s what jealousy and envy does. Envy, this G.E.M, destroys persons along its path, and you don’t even realize it’s you who are doing it.

Would you like to know if the green eyed monster called envy has entered you? Here are three questions to ask:

(1) Is there anyone I don’t like? 

Sometimes you don't like someone because he offended or hurt you. But sometimes you don’t know why you don’t like someone and you can’t explain it. Hmmm is this envy… go to Q2.

(2) What does the other have that I don’t have- but I want to have?

You look enviously on your friend’s Iphone 6, you have only 4S… this might be just jealousy and not yet envy. Go to Q3.

(3) Will I be secretly delighted if something bad happens to that other?

Envy secretly delights to hear the falls, faults, fumbles, and failures of the other person. It is envy when you find delicious satisfaction in knowing that the person you are envious of is now getting his series of bad luck. You even spread the sad news of what happened to him around. You belong to a church ladies group, one of the members won a brand-new Mercedes Benz in the raffle. She bought only one ticket, you bought so many and didn’t even win the starbucks certificate. Of course you are envious. Not only that, she just entered the group and you have been there for years, and all the members like her, of course you are envious. So one day you hear rumors about her failing marriage. And during the meeting she was absent. It’s your turn to get back at her.  “Ladies, let us pray for our member Marcela, the charming lady who won the Mercedez Benz… and let us pray for her because I heard her marriage is falling apart.”

Rick Warren wrote a book: The Purpose Driven Life. After describing the deadly effects of envy, he proposes steps to eradicating this vice in the chapter "The Envy Trap".

The first step to eradicating envy is: Stop comparing yourself to others. There is this man - Tony Melendez. He was born without arms, so Tony learned to play the guitar with his toes. In 1987, He performed for St. John Paul II when the pope visited Los Angeles. Visibly moved, John Paul descended from his chair to embrace Melendez. The crowd broke into a sustained applause. Tony could have been filled with anger and envy for what others have and he was not given, but he did not do that. He gave thanks for his two feet and developed the gifts God gave him. So the first step to overcome envy is to stop comparing with others. When envy tempts you, say: "I am not going down that path."

The first step is a big one, but the second is even more difficult: In place of envy, celebrate God's goodness to others. The Bible says, "rejoice with those who rejoice." That can be hard. You and I thank God for gifts we receive. How often do we thank God for what God does for someone else? Eph 3:8 speaks of "the unending, boundless, fathomless, incalculable and exhaust-less riches of Christ." So don't worry. If someone else receives a blessing, God has plenty more where that one came from.

Have you ever walked a beach when the tide is coming in? It raises every boat, every buoy, everything it finds in its path, big or small. Something similar happens with God's love. When the other person receives a gift, it doesn't take something from me. On the contrary, God's love is like an incoming tide… an incoming wave from the ocean that lifts us all.  Celebrate God's goodness to others and he will lift you with them.

Today God asks, "Are you envious because I am generous?" Do not be afraid to give him an honest answer - and then recognize his gifts to you and that his goodness to others will ultimately lift you up. As our Responsorial Psalm (145) of today says: "Every day I will bless you...Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised...The Lord is good to all."

References:

Martin, G. (1995) “Green Eyed Monster in Shakespeare.” The Phrase Finder.  http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/green-eyed-monster.html

Marvel (2014).Hulk (Bruce Banner). Marvel Universe Wiki.

http://marvel.com/universe/Hulk_(Bruce_Banner)

Roth, I. (2010). “Envy – the Green-Eyed Monster.” Ezinearticles.com.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Envy---The-Green-Eyed-Monster&id=3560135

Sanchez, B. (2014). How to deal with Difficult People. Shepherd’s voice publication, Philippines.

Bloom, P. (2014). “Finding your Place.” Simple Catholicism.

http://stmaryvalleybloom.org/homilyfor-25sunday-a.html

The Cross of Christ- it's red, white, never blue, eh (disclaimer: I'm color-blind)

Today we celebrate the exaltation and the triumph of the Holy Cross. Strange, why do we celebrate an object, a symbol? Symbols remind people of what is and what should be. It reminds us of who we are and where we are destined to. But most of all symbols are important for us because we find meaning in it. Take for example the Canadian flag- it is a symbol. For a non-Canadian, it may be just a piece of cloth… But for us here in Canada, we honor this flag, we respect it, because for us it has meaning, it signifies something sacred- the land, the people.

In the upcoming  movie “Tusk”… There’s this American guy named Wallace who is crossing the border to go to Manitoba.  The Canadian Immigration Officer asks him if he likes hockey. Wallace replies: "If I say I don’t like hockey, will it make you Canadians sad?"

The Officer remarked: Canadians don't get sad. Sadness was invented by the USA. Wallace asks: “How’s that?” The Officer points to the Canadian flag and says: See that flag … what do you see beyond it?  Wallace: "A white wall? (He could not see the meaning behind the symbol)".  The Officer remarks: You see that in America; you may be red, white and blue. But in Canada you're red, white, but never blue, eh, ever. 

Now for us Christians our flag is the Holy Cross of Jesus. Many people could not see anything behind this symbol but for us, it is the symbol of our salvation.

In the Old Testament today, the people of Israel were losing their faith in God, and poisonous snakes began to appear and attacked them. All who were bitten died.  Then God commanded Moses to fix a bronze serpent on a pole and then raise it up for all to see.  And all those who looked and gazed upon this symbol, even if they would be bitten by the poisonous snakes would live and not die.

This event foreshadows what happens in the New Testament which says God loved the world so much that He sent his only begotten Son to be sacrificed and lifted high on the cross for all to see… and all who believe will be saved. That Cross on which Jesus hung is the instrument of our salvation. And this cross we are proud of and today we celebrate it. But the story does not stop there.

When the Body of Jesus was removed from it, to prevent His followers from finding it, the Cross was thrown in a ditch or well, and then covered with stones and earth.  In 312 A.D., while Constantine, who had not yet converted to Christianity, was in combat with Maxentius for the throne of the Roman Empire, he prayed to the Lord God of the Christians to help him in his battle. In answer to his prayer, a sign appeared in the sky. A luminous cross was seen with the words “In hoc signo vinces” (By this sign you will conquer) inscribed on it.

Following this, Constantine won the battle over Maxentius. Indebted to God for his victory at the Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312, Constantine commanded that the sign of Christianity be placed on the Roman standards and on the shields of all the soldiers.

And according to St John Chrysostom, Constantine's mother, St Helena, longed to find the cross of Christ. For this reason she travelled to Jerusalem where she organized a dig at the hill of Calvary. The diggers uncovered three wooden crosses. They could not tell which was the cross of Jesus and which were the crosses of the two thieves crucified with him. Finally they brought a sick woman and a dead man who was being carried to burial. One after the other, the three crosses were made to touch the sick woman and the dead man. Two of the crosses had no effect, but on contact with the third cross, the sick woman was healed and the dead man came to life. They have found the holy cross.

News of the finding of the true cross quickly spread and believers gathered to see the true cross and to venerate it. The Patriarch of Jerusalem, Makarios, standing on a raised platform, lifted high the cross, "exalting" it, for all to see. The people fell to their knees, bowing down before the cross and crying out repeatedly: "Lord, have mercy!" St Helena then commissioned a church to be built over the site. The church of the Holy Sepulchre was consecrated on September 13, 335. The feast of the finding and exaltation of the Cross was appointed to be celebrated annually on the following day. The basilica of the Holy Sepulchre is today regarded as the holiest spot on earth by Christians of all denominations.

To the world the cross looks like hardship and pain, but to those of us who believe, it is a fortress against the night and an oasis against the heat. All of the world’s wisdom has stood in opposition to the cross, and yet here we are. All of the world’s wisdom sees the cross as a sign of defeat and failure, and yet here are. All of the world’s wisdom tells us that the cross is not the way, that we must be strong and independent, and yet here we are, bending down, as it were, to kiss the holy cross.

Do not think, my brothers and sisters, that the world can be right. If you believe that acceptance of the cross or the practice of humility is a sign of weakness and failure, then you do not know the truth. For only cowards rely on brute strength, and only weaklings prey on the vulnerable. The cross is the very fulcrum which has turned the world upside down – where once there was evil sitting on the throne, now there is love.

That is what we come here to remember. For we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a scandal and to Gentiles foolishness but God’s foolishness is wiser than any human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than any human strength and so, for us who believe, Jews and Gentiles alike, the cross of Christ is nothing less than the power, the wisdom and the glory of God.

So what color is the cross, then (disclaimer, I'm color-blind, so I'm not infallible when it comes to color)? For me, it’s like the Canadian flag. It’s always red, for the true cross is soaked by the blood of Christ poured out for love of us. It is always white, for the true cross asks us to carry it with purity of heart to realize the brightness of Christ’s resurrection. It is never blue, for in spite of the sacrifice behind the symbol is the joy and the hope which brings true happiness. The Cross of Christ- always red, always white, and never blue.

References:

AMC independent. (2014) "Tusk- Exclusive Clib - Canado's and Canadon'ts" Youtube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k55r_nSGog

Ezeogu, M. (2014) “Light a Candle”- website. http://munachi.com/z/exaltationofthecross.htm

Zehnie, D. (2008) Servant and Steward – website.

http://dzehnle.blogspot.ca/2008/09/homily-exaltation-of-holy-cross.html

Adapted from the homily of St. Peter Damian on the occasion of the Solemnity of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and of a homily of the Rev. Michael Fuller, adapted from the same homily of St. Peter Damian. Both in C. Colt Anderson, Christian Eloquence: Contemporary Doctrinal Preaching (Chicago, Illinois: Hillenbrand Books, 2005)

Pain demands to be felt

I watched this movie: The Fault in our Stars (from a novel by John Green). And there was this scene where Hazel reads from the Peter Van Houten book “An Imperial Affliction” this passage:

"PAIN demands to be felt.  [Pain -] It is the ultimate superhero: backs down to no one, overcomes every obstacle.  All the nerve blocks and neuro-chemical disruptors and inflammation antagonists line up, and PAIN barrels through them all, refusing to go unheard, bringing justice where otherwise there would only be peace.  It rises up, sears through me once more, and reminds myself that no single moment is unbearable, [and] that all will be borne."

It is true: Pain has to be borne. Pain has to be suffered. That is what our mortal lives is all about. The One Up There never promised to remove the pain. But then He sent that SomeOne Near Him down here to see us through it... to walk with us through the pain.