16th Sunday After Pentecost – September 16, 2012
Epistle Ephesians 3: 13-21. Gospel Luke 14: 1-11)
St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians is not the longest of his letters, but it is from this letter that the Church takes most of the Epistle readings through the long period of Ordinary Time, the time between Pentecost and Advent. Paul was in prison when he wrote this letter, but the chains that held him there could not stop him from preaching the Word of God.
St. Paul talks about the divine life, and holiness is required to fully reach that. If the path to heaven seems too difficult for us, remember that Paul is offering this to all people, Jew and Gentile and pagan alike. If the path to heaven was open to St. Paul, who persecuted and murdered Catholics, then it is open to all of us. The Church knows this, and since the beginning of the Liturgical Year on the First Sunday of Advent, she has provided guidance at Mass and through the many prayers and devotions available to us to put us on the road to Heaven, and to keep us on that road. If this seems too hard then it’s really our own resistance to God, our own timidity and fear of letting go of the things of this life, our fear of picking up our cross and following Christ into eternal joy. If you have resisted this path – and some of us resist for years - do not lose hope, because on December 2nd, the First Sunday of Advent, the cycle begins again with the new Liturgical Year. Now is a good time to stop admiring people of Faith and Charity from a distance. Begin your resolve now to accept the Church’s grace in the coming year so that you will live a life of Faith and Charity and by doing so be filled with a blessed Hope for Eternity. +
In today’s Gospel reading the Pharisees held their tongues – but they didn’t have to speak because our Lord knew what was in their minds and hearts. Jesus sat down for dinner with them on this Sabbath day to teach them something. He took the man with dropsy, which is retention of fluid in the body, and he asked the Pharisees if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath. They didn’t answer Him, but He healed the man and sent him on his way. Jesus didn’t pay attention to the Pharisees’ false idea of scandal but immediately pointed out their hypocrisy when He asked which of them would not pull their animal out if it fell in a pit on the Sabbath day. Of course, they all would pull the animal out, and so they didn’t answer Him. Our Lord then begins a lesson on humility, telling the guests at dinner to seek the last place at table when they are an invited to a wedding, that everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted. However, this passage is identified by Luke as a parable. That means it has a mystical meaning. So when our Lord speaks about being exalted and humbled, He is referring to heaven and hell.
What is it to be humble? The Random House College Dictionary says “not proud or arrogant, modest,” also “humble” and a “feeling of insignificance,” and “meek.” Well, there you have it, meek and humble. “Learn of me,” our Lord said, (Matthew 11: 29) “because I am meek and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.” And what is “rest to our souls?” It is joy and happiness. There is one sure way to lose joy and happiness and that is through envy. There is nothing more destructive to our souls than this sin of envy. It does no harm to others, but it slowly consumes and destroys the envious person.
“Envy is the pain that arises from the good fortune of someone else. And because of this the envious man is never without pain, never without grief of mind.” He does not find rest to his soul. Does his neighbor have a better job than he? Is another person wealthier, in better health, better looking, happier than he is? All these things and more cause pain to the envious person. What really upsets him is that he cannot tell anyone about his suffering. With his head bowed and his eyes downcast he suffers torment. If you ask what is wrong, he is ashamed to tell the truth: “I am envious and bitter. The gifts and talents and possessions of my friends are a torment to me. I grieve at my neighbor’s happiness. I cannot endure the sight of another person’s good fortune.” So not willing to tell the truth, he buries his envy in the depths of his soul where this sin smolders within him and consumes him.
Unwilling to cure envy by living a life of Faith and Charity, his only pleasure and happiness is in the misfortune of others. He commiserates with those who have suffered a misfortune, not out of tenderness but only to try to make them feel worse. He may praise a neighbor’s son who died, but while the son lived he never had a good word to say about him. He praises a strong body, but only when disease has laid it low. He praises a man’s riches, only after they have been lost. What could be more deadly than this disease which is a corruption of life and a hatred of the things God has given us?
Was not Satan’s pride fueled by envy over the bountiful gifts God gave to man? Now Satan avenges himself on man because he is powerless against God. We can see this in Cain, who saw his brother Able honored by God, and he burned with so much envy that he murdered his brother. Cain could not attack God, so he turned his hatred towards Able.
King Saul was another envious one. The greatness of the things David did for him was the very reason for Saul’s war against him. David cured Saul of madness with his music. He delivered him from the insults of Goliath. A woman at that victory celebration proclaimed in a song that “Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” (1 Kings 18: 7. KJV: 1 Samuel 18: 7) Because of this one sentence and because of the truth of it, Saul tried to kill David with his own hands, and then attacked him with treachery, all because he envied David. After Saul pursued him with an army, David spared him twice. Even then Saul did not relent because to show kindness to an envious person is only to provoke them to more bitterness and hatred.
It was envy that caused Joseph’s brothers to sell him into slavery. They did not want Joseph’s dream to come true, that they would one day bow before their younger brother. However, by selling him into slavery, it came about that they did bow down before Joseph when they came to him for food in Egypt. If a dream is true, what evil craftiness of men can prevent its coming true? And if the dream is false, then why envy the dreamer? He’s just deluded. The best thing to do is nothing, just let it be.
The envious can be known by their judgment of things, which lacks the ring of truth. For them no work of virtue is worthy of praise. If a famous person stumbles, they are quick to make it known to everyone. They badmouth people of virtue by using the opposing vice. So a courageous person they say is reckless. A temperate or self-restrained person becomes unfeeling. A just man is called harsh. A prudent man becomes cunning. A person of great generosity becomes to the envious a vulgar spendthrift.
There is escape from the sin of envy. First, let us remind ourselves that our highest good does not consist in wealth or glory or even good health --- all this is fleeting. It ends soon. We are called to eternal happiness with God in Heaven. Wealth and glory and health do not in themselves contain happiness. They are tools of virtue to those who use them well. But if someone else’s wealth, glory or health pierces your heart with envy you are misusing the graces given to you, for someone else’s great wealth may be the source of your employment, someone else’s good health may be a role model for you to copy to enjoy good health yourself. And someone else’s glory, for example the glory given to a great preacher, is also your glory, because he preaches for your benefit, for your salvation. +++
We Celebrate the Traditional Tridentine Latin Mass
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