Memorial of Saint Clare, virgin

Write down the vision Clearly upon the tablets, so that one can read it readily. For the vision still has its time, presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint; If it delays, wait for it, it will surely come, it will not be late. The rash man has no integrity; but the just man, because of his faith, shall live.

We must trust in God’s Justice if we want to be good and faithful servants to Him. We cannot let setbacks, sufferings, and challenges shake our faith. We cannot let the fortunes and successes of others, especially our enemies, make us jealous or angry. We do not know the whole picture. Perhaps our difficulties will lead us or others to a better place, situation, or life. We cannot predict what tomorrow will bring for us… good and bad. We can only trust that whatever it is... we will become better people if we take it on in the name of Jesus Christ and with the firm intention to do what is right and just.

Do we trust God as we ought to? Are we willing to let go of our feelings of disappointment and jealousy and give God a chance to work in our lives as He sees fit? How can we become more patient in our faith lives?

O Lord, make us into a just and enduring people.

Amen.

Eleventh Monday in Ordinary Time

His wife Jezebel came to him and said to him, "Why are you so angry that you will not eat?" He answered her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Sell me your vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will give you a vineyard in exchange.' But he refused to let me have his vineyard." His wife Jezebel said to him, "A fine ruler over Israel you are indeed! Get up. Eat and be cheerful. I will obtain the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite for you."

The sin of jealousy or envy is a devious one. It worms its way into a person's heart slowly eating away at them from inside. It may lead to depression, but also may lead to evil deeds. Ahab may not have asked Jezebel to get rid of Naboth, but he probably could have guessed what she had planned when she told him that she would obtain the vineyard. However, he let his envy silence his conscience and is just as guilty as his wife. In a similar manner, we can sometimes let others come to harm because of our jealousy or our inaction. We might guess trouble is coming to someone, but keep quiet about it instead of warning them. There are times in our lives when we are tempted to ignore an evil done to someone else, especially someone whom we don't like. However, this does not excuse us. After all, God asked us to love others as He loves them... which means loving even our enemies. This means casting off our jealousy and protecting them as Jesus would protect them... from whatever it is that threatens them. This of course isn't easy, but the road to heaven isn't an easy on to walk. It is narrow and only those willing to die to themselves have a chance to make it to the end.

Are we jealous of someone else? How can we turn that jealousy into love? Are we willing to know, love, and serve even those whom we dislike?

O Lord, rid us of all jealousy and give us hearts full of love for all people, even our enemies.

Amen.

Second Friday of Lent

So Joseph went after his brothers and caught up with them in Dothan. They noticed him from a distance, and before he came up to them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another: "Here comes that master dreamer! Come on, let us kill him and throw him into one of the cisterns here; we could say that a wild beast devoured him. We shall then see what comes of his dreams."

Jealousy is a vice we must always be on guard against. It can worm its way into our hearts and eat away at us. It can devour our virtues and turn our minds, hearts, souls, and strengths against God and His children. When we see something good happen to someone else, we should rejoice, even if that person is an enemy or rival. We should not take their success as an affront, but rather praise God for His Goodness to all. We may feel like we’ve gotten the short end of the stick, but that is only the case if we allow jealousy into our hearts. If instead, we are content and at peace with whatever God gives us, then we shall see our own dreams come true. Perhaps not in the way we expected, but in the way that is best for us and our souls.

Are we jealous of anyone? How can we rid ourselves of this jealousy? What can we do to guard against jealous thoughts and the temptations they bring?

O Lord, give us hearts full of charity and mercy.

Amen.

Second Thursday of Ordinary Time

"Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands." Saul was very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought: "They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship." And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.

Jealousy is a sin that creeps up on us, convincing us we are being denied what is rightfully ours by someone else’s success. It is an evil that preys upon our insecurities, fears, and anxieties just as the serpent played upon the insecurities and lack of confidence Eve had in God. It tries to convince us wrong is right and we are being robbed of what’s rightfully ours by someone else. It is a green-eyed monster who always sees the grass as being better on the other side of the fence. It wants to feed our anger and resentment of others and persuade us to take what isn’t ours. It wants us to deny the dignity of other people and lead us to sin against them in thought, word, and deed. Now, we are all tempted to jealousy from time to time, it isn’t the thought that counts, but rather whether we act on our envy. If we give into jealousy, then we sin. However, if we uproot the jealous thoughts and replace them with charitable ones, then we shall discover there is no reason to mourn the success of others. Instead, we should be happy for them and be at peace with them.

Are we jealous of someone? If so, then how can we rid ourselves of such thoughts and replace them with thoughts, words, and works of love? What can we do to celebrate the success of others?

O Lord, cast out the serpent of jealousy from our hearts so we might love more perfectly you and all of your children.

Amen.

Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest

“Now listen to the words of the LORD: Should there be a prophet among you, in visions will I reveal myself to him, in dreams will I speak to him; not so with my servant Moses! Throughout my house he bears my trust: face to face I speak to him; plainly and not in riddles. The presence of the LORD he beholds. Why, then, did you not fear to speak against my servant Moses?”

Jealously is a vice we all have to struggle against. Sometimes when we see another person who is prospering or blessed in some way, we start to wonder why they have all the luck. Worse yet, if the person who is doing well is someone we dislike we might feel angry that they are getting all the breaks. We start to grumble about our lot in life and covet what others have in life, love, possessions, and whatever else we see ourselves lacking. This envy of others worms its way into our relationships, making us more and more spiteful, hollowing us out, eating away at all the things we once took pleasure or solace in. When we fall into the temptation to be jealous, this vice slowly but surely whittles away at joys and we find no comfort in anything as long as others are doing better than us. This is why we must nurture within ourselves a spirit of kindness. We should find joy in the joy of others, even our enemies. We should celebrate the successes of others as if they were our own. This empathy for our fellow children of God will help arm us against the vice of envy which can only grow where self love overcomes charity.

Are we jealous of anyone? If so, then how can we ground our relationship with that person or persons in kindness and love? What can we do to keep ourselves from being jealous of others?

O Lord, rid us of our jealousy and in its place give us hearts full of kindness.

Amen.

Thirteenth Wednesday in Ordinary Time

"Drive out that slave and her son! No son of that slave is going to share the inheritance with my son Isaac!" Abraham was greatly distressed, especially on account of his son Ishmael. But God said to Abraham: "Do not be distressed about the boy or about your slave woman. Heed the demands of Sarah, no matter what she is asking of you; for it is through Isaac that descendants shall bear your name. As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a great nation of him also, since he too is your offspring."

Jealousy can corrupt all of us if we let it. It is a sin that worms its way into our hearts and slowly gnaws at us from the inside out. Like all sins, it is best to resist it from the outset. If left to feast on our darker emotions, it can lead us to not only evil thoughts, but evil actions, too. Envying others does us no good. It is a waste of time that only leeches our time and energy and gives us nothing in return. In fact, because the time we spend on envious thoughts leaves us empty, it makes us even more aware of what we lack which in turn leads to more and more jealousy. So, best to resist these harmful thoughts from the beginning and instead always be supportive of others, like God was supportive of Hagar and Ishmael.

Are we jealous of anyone? If so, how can we rid ourselves of our jealousy? What can we do to be more loving and supportive of those we are tempted to envy?

O Lord, uproot all envy in our hearts.

Amen.

Second Friday of Lent

They then sat down to their meal. Looking up, they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead, their camels laden with gum, balm and resin to be taken down to Egypt. Judah said to his brothers: "What is to be gained by killing our brother and concealing his blood? Rather, let us sell him to these Ishmaelites, instead of doing away with him ourselves. After all, he is our brother, our own flesh." His brothers agreed. They sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver.

Jealousy can lead us to do terrible things. Jealousy is a sin that is subtle and worms its way into our hearts when we focus to much on what other people have and are not satisfied with what we've got. It is a sin that comes from a lack of love and empathy for others. When someone has something we wish we had, we can be tempted to be envious. However, instead of envy, we should be thankful for the other person's good and supportive of them. We all have areas in our lives that are lacking in comparison to others, but one thing we are not lacking is God's Love. He loves all of us as his children and we need to recognize that all though God might seem to love others more than us, that is just our own lack of knowledge and perception. God will always love us because we are each a unique and unrepeatable expression of His Love of others and the world. We all have a unique role to play in Creation and we should be thankful for that above all else and realize jealousy denies this truth by taking away our uniqueness and trying to replace it with someone else's individual good.

Are we jealous of anyone? How can we rid ourselves of our envious thoughts? What can we do to focus on our own uniqueness and how special we are in God's Creation?

O Lord, cleanse us of all jealousy.

Amen.

Twenty-Sixth Monday of Ordinary Time

Then John said in reply, "Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company." Jesus said to him, "Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you."

We all experience moments of jealously. We see someone who has something we want and wish we had it. We see someone who has hurt us be rewarded in some way and wish we'd gotten their reward instead. We do something good and get not credit, but another person does something else and gets all the attention. We are constantly tempted to seek recognition for ourselves and receive rewards for our good deeds. However, our faith is not about outshining someone in worldly accolades. It is about being a beacon of spiritual grace to the world. We are supposed to bring the light of heaven to the world, not to bring attention to ourselves, but to the one who sent us. Our every thought, word, and work should be a witness of God's Love for the world and lead others to the Truth that will set them free of their own selfishness. We should welcome the success of others, not wish for it for ourselves. This is not an easy thing to do, but if we wish to be Disciples of Christ, then we must be willing to allow and even encourage others to shine more brightly than us.

Who are we jealous of? How can we overcome these temptations and find joy in the success of others? How can we be better witnesses to God's Love, Mercy, and Grace?

O Lord, may our hearts welcome others into our lives and rejoice in their success.

Amen.

Seventh Wednesday of Ordinary Time

“Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us.”

Why do the disciples try to prevent someone from driving out demons in Jesus' name? Maybe it is because they were jealous of the person. After all, a few short paragraphs before, they had failed to exorcise a mute demon because of their lack of prayer. Maybe they thought this new exorcist was seeking to take their place among the disciples. After all, they had just debated about who was the greatest among them and been rebuked about how the first must be a servant of all. Here is a new exorcist who is driving out demons and serving others… an ideal disciple and yet not one of them. And so once again Jesus rebukes his own followers, reminding them that jealousy has no place in his Kingdom. We would do well to remember that the next time we feel envious of others. We should be happy at the success of others and spurred on to do better ourselves. After all, it is a far better use of our time and energy than stewing in the sin of jealousy.

Who are we jealous of? How can we let go of these feelings of envy? How can we use the success of others as inspiration to do better?

O Lord, rid us of all our jealousy.

Amen.

Second Saturday of Lent

Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as you would treat one of your hired workers.

We share a lot in common with the prodigal and older son in today’s gospel. We have taken the gifts and talents God has given us and squandered them. Some of are like the older brother. We waste our abilities a little at a time, here and there. We hardly notice the missed opportunities to do more than just what is required of us. We think obedience is enough, but it is not. Doing God’s Will requires self-sacrifice and humility. However, others of us are like the prodigal son. We blind ourselves to the good with our desire for worldly things. We let our physical wants guide us away from our spiritual needs. We starve on a lack of charity toward God, others, and ourselves. We have no harvest to tend to because we have not taken the time to purchase the seeds through sacrifice or plant them with love. However, the Father is always there for us, hoping we too will come to our senses and return to him like the prodigal son or realize that everything is ours like the elder one.

In what ways are we like the prodigal son? Do we identify with the jealousy of the elder son? How can we learn from both of these men and grow in our relationship with God, our father?

O Lord, help us to come to our senses and to know everything you have is ours.

Amen.