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