The "green-eyed monster"

Readings and my meditations for Sunday, September 20, 2009
Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
Psalm 54:3-4, 5, 6 and 8
James 3:16-4:3
Mark 9:30-37

We’ve been taught that there are seven "capital" or “deadly” sins. They are the sins that flow from pride and passion. All the other sins flow from them. One of them, envy, is often pictured as a green-eyed monster.

In the first reading, the corrupt-power people are plotting to get rid of a holy one who is exposing their evil. "Let us beset the just one, because he is obnoxious to us." Like scheming backroom politicians, they are saying, "He's a pain! Get rid of him!" They plot to torture him, and eventually kill him! Of course, the just one wins out in the end, since in his wisdom, he is following the way that leads to truth and justice.

In the second reading, St. James warns the early Christians to avoid self-seeking and envy. This only leads to dissension, quarreling, and war. The true follower of Jesus will seek that wisdom that is "peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity." According to St. James, wisdom leads to good order and peace.

In the Gospel, the disciples of Jesus are so busy arguing about which one is going to be greater in the Kingdom, that they really miss what Jesus is trying to tell them. For the second time, He is attempting to explain that soon He must suffer and die, and on the third day, to rise from the dead. When they arrive at a house in Capernaum, Jesus asks them what they were arguing about on the way. He knows very well that they had not been listening, so He tells them that any follower of His must be a servant to others. Placing a small child in the middle of the group, He declares that the trust and love they see in the eyes of this little one is a model for their future discipleship.

As we think about that dramatic teaching of Jesus, we realize how far we are from being truly childlike. We should silence our ambitions, our dissensions, and the clamor of a fearful world, and listen to God's Wisdom. Hopefully, we will get rid of that green-eyed monster, envy, and grow in that wisdom that leads to humble service in the Lord's kingdom.