Envy: A Particularly Toxic Vice

Does the green eyed monster of Jealousy make you see red at another’s success? 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 “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 in 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.

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 commandments envy comes readily to mind!

From Cain’s cold-hearted killing of his brother Abel over God preferring Abel’s offering to his, 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 or success, thinking that they are somehow a threat to our worldly reputation.

When we envy 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.

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 Him 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. And by no means should you seek to make others “green with envy”. None of us should be keeping company with that green-eyed monster of jealousy!