Fifteenth Sermon: On the Folly of the Envious, Introduction and First Part (paras 1519–1560)

1. What envy is, and how common a vice. 2. It contradicts especially one's love for one's self, and thereby shows the folly of the envious.—Preached on the sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost.

Text.

Et ipsi observabant eum.—Luke xiv. 1

"They watched Him."

Introduction.

Why did the Pharisees watch Jesus Christ? Not to admire and praise His wonderful works, but to envy, blame and condemn the good He was doing. So that not even piety itself is free from the attacks of envy, which despises holiness and sanctity, when occasion offers. This is a very common vice nowadays, my dear brethren, and I mean to show how common and how foolish it is.

Plan of Discourse.

What envy is, and how common a vice, I will show in the first part. It contradicts especially one's love for one's self, and therefore the envious are very foolish people, as I shall show in the second part. Let us not be so foolish as to be guilty of such a sin; such will be our conclusion.

With Thy grace, O Lord, which we expect through the intercession of Mary and of our holy guardian angels.

Envy or grudging is defined by St. Thomas and by all theologians, as "Sorrow at another's good, inasmuch as it diminishes our own honor and excellence." From this it follows that not every sorrow at another's prosperity, is envy; for I may regret that prosperity for many reasons. Thus, I may be troubled at the success of another, because he is my enemy, and has grievously insulted and injured me; this is, properly speaking, hatred and vindictiveness. Or I may be sorry that one who has hitherto persecuted me, is raised to a high position, in which I see that he will have many an opportunity of annoying me. This is not envy, but rather a well-founded fear of misfortune. Or I may regret that a dignity has been conferred on one who is not fit for it, and who therefore can do a great deal of harm to the community. This sorrow may sometimes arise from a just and pious zeal; as was the case with the Prophet David, when he said: "I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners." Still, this zeal, no matter how righteous it appears, must always be joined with an humble submission of our judgment to the decrees of God's providence. For it is God who rules all things in this world, and who, from some all-perfect reason known to His providence, but not to us, often permits the most wicked and godless sinners to enjoy honor, fortune and prosperity; and therefore the Holy Ghost suggested another thought to David: "Be not emulous of evil-doers, nor envy them that work iniquity;" but attribute everything to the decrees of Providence. I can also be secretly disquieted and troubled when I see that another is very rich and prosperous, not because it is good for him to be so, for I wish him well with all my heart; but because I wish to be equally prosperous. That is not envy, but rather emulation; a very dangerous thing in worldly matters, as it can easily degenerate into envy; but if it concerns piety and the practice of virtue so that I am troubled because I am not so good and virtuous as others, then it is a praiseworthy and holy zeal, that we all should have, in order to strive to imitate the virtues of others, according to the exhortation of the Apostle: "Be zealous for the better gifts;" Hence the company of the wicked is dangerous and hurtful, while that of good and pious Christians is profitable in the highest degree. The same may be said of reading the lives of the Saints, because it encourages us to tread in their foot-steps, and makes us ashamed of our tepidity and sloth. Finally, if I am troubled at my neighbor's prosperity, wealth, honor, or praise, merely because I imagine that my own prosperity or honor will be lessened thereby, that is envy, or grudging. And it is a vice that comes from pride, inasmuch as I cannot bear to see another equal or superior to me in a certain thing, my wish being to excel in that thing myself. Nothing is more common in the world among men of all classes and conditions, than this odious vice. "I considered all the labors of men," says the Wise Preacher, "and I remarked that their industries are exposed to the envy of their neighbor."

Envy rules amongst soldiers; if one is renowned for his courage and heroic actions, he cannot bear to see another equally favored by fortune, showing himself brave also and holding the field against the foe, thus gaining great renown too, in the eyes of the world. This creates a feeling of enmity between the two men; the praise given to one, grates on the ear of the other, who looks upon that praise as diminishing his own glory. Thus Cæsar and Pompey could not bear each other. Cæsar could not tolerate a superior, Pompey could not brook a rival. Belisarius was the Emperor Justinian's general-in-chief, and was unsurpassed in military powers; after he had driven the Goths out of Italy, and conquered the Persians and Vandals, whose king he brought to Constantinople to grace his triumph, Justinian showed him every mark of esteem, and amongst others, he had a silver coin made, on the one side of which was the effigy of Justinian, on the other that of Belisarius with the inscription, "Belisarius, the glory of the Romans." But how long did he enjoy those honors? The envy of those who could not bear to see him so prosperous, effected his ruin by calumny, and not only deprived him of his well-earned dignities, but had both his eyes plucked out, and reduced him to such misery that he was forced to find shelter in a poor hut, and to beg for alms in the well known words: "Give an obolus to Belisarius, who was exalted by his valor, and deprived of sight by envy."

Envy reigns amongst courtiers; if one of them is honored by the special favor of his sovereign, he is at once a cause of secret discontent and envy to the others. One lawyer envies another who has been more successful in his case. One physician envies another whose medicines are more efficacious in healing. The merchant envies his more prudent and more successful rival.

The tradesman is jealous of the superior skill that another displays in the same branch of work. Envy is found amongst musicians and painters, on account of the greater skill of their rivals in the same profession; amongst families, because the children of the one are more beautiful or more clever than those of the other; amongst women, when one is dressed in better style than the other. It is found also amongst scholars, when one is better able to learn and has gained a higher place in school than the others; in private families, when one child is favored more than the others by its parents; and amongst servants, when the master or mistress shows a preference for the one more than for the others. Envy is not wanting even amongst brothers and sisters, when one marries better, or can keep up greater state than the others.

Nay, (and who would believe such a thing possible) even the most holy and zealous servants of God are sometimes envious of each other, when one does more than the other for the glory of God and the salvation of souls; that is to say, when one is more praised or admired than the other, or is looked upon as having more influence for good, or as doing more for the conversion of sinners, etc. All this comes from secret pride and vanity, which makes one fear that his honor or the esteem in which he is held, is about to be lessened. Josue, in spite of his piety, was much troubled on hearing that two of the common people, Eldad and Medad, were endowed with the gift of prophecy. Why, said he to Moses, do you permit that? Tell those people to be silent, for we look on you alone as our prophet. "Josue the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, and chosen out of many, said: "My lord Moses, forbid them." But Moses answered: "Why hast thou emulation for me? O that all the people might prophesy, and that the Lord would give them His Spirit." In the same way, the disciples of St. John the Baptist were envious of our Lord Himself, because the people had more recourse to Him than to their master; and therefore, they complained: "Rabbi, he that was with Thee beyond the Jordan, to whom Thou gavest testimony, behold he baptiseth, and all men come to him;" But John explained to them the reason of that: "A man cannot receive anything unless it be given him from Heaven. You yourselves do bear me witness, that I said: I am not Christ, but that I am sent before him. This my joy, therefore, is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease." He must be exalted, but I must be lowered. So cunning is this vice, that it can introduce itself under the appearance of sanctity, even into the holiest actions. Reason have we to be astonished when we read in the lives of the hermits of old, how the devil penetrated into the wilderness and overcame, by means of envy, those men who led such mortified lives, whom no other temptation could seduce from the service of God. To pass over many other examples, I read of an old grey-haired hermit in the desert of Scythia, who out of charity, once gave hospitality to a young hermit who had just arrived in the desert. This young stranger had received from God a special gift of interpreting the word of God, so that many of the brethren came to him to get instruction in the truths of salvation; whereupon the old hermit became filled with envy. How is this, he said to himself, I have been so many years in the desert and the brethren seldom or never come to me, or if they do come, it is only on great feast days; whereas this young man has such a crowd of visitors nearly every day? Go, he said to his disciples, and tell that brother in my name, that he must leave my cell at once, as I want it for myself. But the stranger did not leave, because the disciples did not venture to give him his master's message, and the old man took a great stick in his hand and went to the cell where the other was, with the intention of expelling him by force; but the latter came to meet him, fell at his feet, and by his humility showed him how the demon of envy had befooled him. In a word, it is hard to find a man who is not sometimes tempted to envy, as St. Augustine says; a man envies his equals, because they are equal to him, his superiors, because they are above him, and even his inferiors, through fear that they may become equal to him. But how great the folly of those who allow themselves to be overcome by this vice! For there is no vice which more contradicts one's love for one's self; and consequently there is no vice that displays more the folly of men than envy. I shall prove this in the