THE SPIRITUAL POISON
OF ENVY

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Does the green eyed monster of jealousy make you see red at another’s good fortune? Don’t let envy eat away at your soul! 

The famous 19th century Cure of Ars, the patron saint of priests Jean-Marie Vianney once said of envy in an exhortation “My children, that the devil after his fall felt, and still feels, extreme anger at seeing us the heirs of the glory of the good God, so the envious man feels sadness at seeing the spiritual and temporal prosperity of his neighbor.”

And in one of his sermons he noted “that it is not a very difficult task to show the hideousness of envy…[which is] none other than a certain sadness and trouble, a vexation and displeasure at the happiness and success of our fellow men, and a certain joy and satisfaction, pleasure and elation at the unhappiness and misfortune of others. To envy our neighbor, means to grudge him his good fortune, and to wish him evil.”

Keeping the words of that great Saint in mind, I’d like to offer this prayer to fight jealousy, asking God for a spirit of true wisdom.

Dear Lord, help me fight my feelings of envy, that poisonous weed that springs from the root of vainglory. Let me better understand envy’s corrosive effect on my soul and how it can hinder my following Your Will. Help me be the person you created me to be, and always to discern what you want me to do for my good and Your glory. Amen.

All the capital sins, Pride, Avarice (greed), Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Anger (or wrath), Sloth (or acedia, also known as apathy) can lead us away from sanctity towards estrangement from God in one form or another. Yet if one can think of a sin that can lead to some seriously egregious violations of God's envy comes readily to mind!

From Cain’s cold-hearted killing of his brother Abel over God preferring Abel’s offering to his (as depicted above in this artistic rendition from the 19th century artist Gustave Doré), through other Old Testament narratives (such as Jacob’s sons hatred of their brother Joseph in part because he was their father’s favorite), and beyond we see how envy has fostered quarrels, hatred, and even, perhaps especially, much bloodshed throughout history!

After all, it was in no small part out of envy that the Sanhedrin clamoring for His Precious Blood handed Jesus over to Pontius Pilate be crucified by the Romans (Matt 27:18 and Mark 15:10). Or closer to home, we can readily see how this sin has divided families in various sibling and other such rivalries, and caused much workplace tension.

When we allow the sin of envy to fester in our hearts it can all too easily bring out anger or even hatred of others. While God wants to bring out the best in us, the devil is all too eager to bring out the worst in us instead, when we covet another’s good fortune, success or just God given talents we think are somehow a threat to our worldly. reputation.

For a good example, when we envy the success of someone who simply has made good use of their God-given talents in a particular area in righteous stewardship, we are all too ready to sully their good name.

And yet, the weeds of envy can further choke off the wheat of righteousness, generally speaking, in a more insidious, yet equally deadly way, if not more so.

How many people over the years have called out some wrongdoers’ sins or perhaps diabolical machinations in a spirit of discernment rather than calumny, only to be met with the response, truly the refuge of scoundrels, that those exposing some malfeasance are ”just jealous” of the person or people involved?

However, it’s also worth noting that those particularly envious can slide from engaging in the venial sin of gossip to the mortal sin of calumny (deliberate slander) in direct violation of the Eighth Commandment, when one either bears false witness against one's neighbor, or deliberately slanders one's neighbor with falsehood, knowing fully well the injury that can cause another person's reputation, and their good name.

Speaking of gossip and slander, St. James focused on a major component of the problem of those two vices when he wrote in his New Testament letter that:

“The tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is placed among our members, which defiles the whole body… By it we bless God and the Father: and by it we curse men, who are made after the likeness of God. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing...For where envying and contention is, there is fickleness and every evil work. But the wisdom, that is from above, first indeed is chaste, then peaceable, modest, easy to be persuaded, consenting to the good, full of mercy and good fruits, without judging, without dissimulation. And the fruit of justice is sown in peace, to them that make peace. (Jas 3:6, 9-10, 16-18)

Great saints such as Jean-Marie Vianney and St. James well understood that when we serve God in loving obedience with humility He can help us uproot whatever poisonous weeds of envy may be growing in our souls.

Vianney further noted in one of his sermons how corrosive envy is to our spiritual fitness and wellbeing when he intoned that “Envy gnaws at the heart as the rust does at the iron, it enfeebles the body like a lingering fever, tortures the soul, destroys the peace of our mind, and fills man with dejection and sadness, and banishes all peace and gladness from the soul…Besides the torture which the envious prepare for themselves in this life, a still greater one awaits them in eternity…St. Paul names envy amongst those works of the flesh which close the kingdom of heaven to us (Gal. v. 21). Let us not be surprised at this. Eternal blessedness is the reward of love, the hope and portion of those who love God and man. The envious person, however, loves neither God nor man…Spare yourselves, therefore, the torments of the envious in this world, and their chastisement in the next. Banish from your heart this shameful and destructive vice….Let us beseech God to preserve us from the vice of envy, and to fill our hearts with His holy love. Amen.

Another towering figure in our faith Ven Louis of Grenada, a 16th century Spanish Dominican friar, preacher, theologian and influential spiritual writer best known for his most famous work The Sinner’s Guide wrote in a similar vein in this excerpt from his book: "Consider…how envy corrodes the heart, weakens the understanding, destroys all peace of soul, and condemns us to a melancholy and intolerable existence...This vice is itself the severest judge against its victim, for the envious man is subjected to its severest tortures. Hence certain authors have termed it a just vice, not meaning that it is good, for it is a most heinous sin, but meaning that it is its own greatest punishment. But a more efficacious remedy against this vice is to love humility and abhor pride, which is the father of envy. A proud man, who cannot brook a superior or an equal, naturally envies all who appear to excel him, persuading himself that he descends in proportion as another rises. Hence the Apostle says, "Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another." (Gal. 5:26). In other words, let us destroy the root of envy, which is vainglory. Let us wean our hearts from worldly honors and possessions, and seek only spiritual riches, for such treasures are not diminished when enjoyed by numbers, but, on the contrary, are increased. It is otherwise with the goods of the earth, which must decrease in proportion to the numbers who share them. For this reason envy finds easy access to the soul which covets the riches of this life, where one necessarily loses what another gains.

Ask God for His help with all this to give you the strength and wisdom to tamp down that fire of envy that might otherwise tarnish your soul and overwhelm your ability to love your neighbor as yourself as we're all called to do (or at least not to hate them)  No you don’t want to make someone just "green with envy"! It just makes the restless heart that should rest in God more restless, not less! 

Don’t let envy eat away at your soul. And ask for the Holy Spirit to help you discern what might be others’ insecurities being projected on you, that you might not take those to heart and crush your spirit. And likewise for Him to help you so that you don’t project your insecurities on others in envy. None of us should be keeping company with that green-eyed monster of jealousy. 

Fray Louis, as Louis of Granada was affectionately known as, left us this salient advice on how we can expunge envious thoughts when they occur: "Consider…how opposed is the sin of envy to charity, which is God, and to the common good, which everyone should promote to the best of his ability; for when we envy another's good, when we hate those to whom God unceasingly manifests His love, when we persecute those whom He created and redeemed, do we not, at least in desire, strive to undo the work of God? Do not be satisfied with feeling no grief at the prosperity of your neighbor, but endeavor to benefit him all you can, and the good you cannot give him ask God to grant him. Hate no man. Love your friends in God, and your enemies for God. He so loved you while you were still His enemy that He shed the last drop of His Blood to save you from the tyranny of your sins." 

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