Vanity, Envy and Good Will
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We are learning to live a beautiful life.
We were made for excellence – to become excellent human persons sharing in the very life of God. In this process of our transformation, the good example of others is extremely helpful. For many years I always had some biography of a saint at hand to read to inspire me by their heroism to keep going and not give up or give in to a mediocre way of life.
We should have the virtue of zeal. Zeal is a determination to follow the excellent example of others, especially the saints like Maximillian Kolbe, St. Faustina, St. Catherine of Siena…
We should even be jealous of them. Yes Jealous. This may surprise you but the word Jealous comes from the word Zealous. We replaced the Z over time with a J. To be jealous is to be zealous – we should have a holy determination to become a saint in our own way but after their example because God created every person in the world to become a saint. That is what we are aiming for.
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Zeal is the desire for some good thing that I see another person has and zeal causes me to hunger for the good you have and do what it takes for me to have it as well.
The deadly sin of envy does not want to see the excellent example of others. Envy destroys the excellent example of others in this way envy is a perversion of zeal. With Pride and Envy someone must lose for me to gain. No one has to lose with zeal.
Envy is
A. Sorrow or sadness at another’s good
B. pleasure at another’s misfortune
1. Envy is sadness at someone else’s good.
a. You lament when something goes well for some other person
b. If the success or blessings of your friend, family member, neighbor, or even competitor displeases you, it is clear you suffer to some degree from envy;
2. Envy is Pleasure at someone else’s misfortune.
a. We celebrate when something bad happens to another person. Now, we don’t do this explicitly.
b. So how do you know when we’ve fallen into this? Well, we go around and tell everybody.
c. We say, “Oh its so awful, have you heard…”
d. If it is so awful, then why do we get this sinister pleasure out of spreading it?
e. We tear others down to raise ourselves up with an eagerness to spread the word of another’s downfall; that’s why we love dirty laundry.
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Gossip is a form of Envy. Gossip is unjustly speaking ill of others
The best indicator for envy is gossip. So, if you gossip, and most of us do, then you certainly suffer from envy.
Gossip can be a violation of justice, even if what you are saying is true, to speak truths without legitimate cause. Aquinas says this can be mortal sin – if done knowingly and willingly because it is a grave matter. Why? Because it is mortal sin to kill someone unjustly and one’s reputation is almost as valuable as their life – so to kill a person’s reputation is like committing murder.
St Francis de Sales in the Introduction to the Devout Life ch 29:
Slander or Gossip is a kind of murder, for we have three lives: the spiritual, which consists in the grace of God; the physical, which depend upon the soul; and the social, which consists in our good name. Sin deprives us of the first, death takes away the second, and slander robs us of the third.
The slanderer, by one blow of his tongue, commits three murders. He kills not only his own soul, and the soul of him that hears him, but also, by a spiritual murder, takes away the social life of the person slandered.
Gossip is a kind of terrorism because terrorism is indiscriminate – Gossip has such collateral damage that there is no way of knowing where it will end or who will be harmed.
So, I challenge you to try - just for one day - to not gossip. See how you do then reflect on envy.
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Gossip comes from envy, but we can conquer envy and gossip with Goodwill.
C.S. Lewis wrote, God “wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another.”
a. Want good for others: even competitors, even enemies
b. Think good of others: give them the benefit of the doubt, make excuses for them
c. Speak well of others: every person has the right to a good reputation
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Along with Good will - Gratitude overcomes envy
Envy is where you look at what you don’t have and what others do have, and it makes you sorrowful.
In Gratitude we thank God for everything God has given us to us; and then extend that gratitude out to others - Grateful for what my wife has, my kids have, and co-workers and what everyone has been given.
The first step in overcoming envy is celebrating the virtues that others have - which in God’s plan contributes to the good of all.
That is what the communion of saints means - we pool our spiritual resources.
We need to see the world the way God does – that your gifts don’t detract from me – they benefit me, and mine benefit you. So we should rejoice in each other!