1 Sm 26:2, 7-9, 12-13, 22-23
Ps 103
1 Cor 15:45-49
Lk 6:27-38
The first reading is instructive.
The second one is explanatory.
The gospel is prescriptive.
And the psalm offers consolation in our struggles.
The first reading instructs us on the difference between envy and jealousy, words that are oftentimes used interchangeably as if they were synonyms. They are not. The distinction is important. Envy and jealousy are different emotions that drive different behaviors. The behaviors associated with jealousy are potentially more damaging, destructive, and dangerous than the behaviors characteristic of envy, though envy may deteriorate into jealousy.
Envy means coveting or wanting what someone else has. It can drive either positive behaviors or disastrously maladaptive ones depending on the individual. Thus, it can motivate someone to try harder. Imagine a student who envies a classmates grades and wants similar ones. And then he observes his friend and realizes that studying more and gaming less will help. However, envy that puts someone into financial distress because "I want the same Mercedes that my neighbor has" or "I gotta' have those granite counter tops like my sister's" can be destructive and result in deep debt. Rather than wanting what the other has, jealousy is fear, sometimes an incorrect or even delusional fear, that someone will take what I have from me. It can drive violent, destructive, and murderous behavior. Shakespeare had a field day with jealousy in Othello.
The story of Saul and David is one of envy that deteriorated into homicidal jealousy on Saul's part. The tragedy began with Saul envying David's popularity and skill. Saul wanted people to sing his praises the way they sang David's. With time Saul became obsessed that David would usurp his power. That obsession drove his desire to kill David so as to prevent him from taking what Saul had.
For his part David was far from perfect. He was a man with many serious flaws, a man who sunk to an abysmal low in his tawdry affair with Bathsheba. Like all of us he was a sinner: a sinner who was loved by God and forgiven when he repented though the penalty for his adultery was harsh. In this particular narrative, however, he showed himself to be virtuous when he refused to kill Saul despite the perfect opportunity to do so. "Today, though the Lord delivered you into my grasp, I would not harm the Lord's anointed.”
The politicians of both parties in this country could learn a lot from David.
Envy, jealousy, and their associated behaviors are rampant in our society, in the halls of congress and state legislatures, and in just about any other venue one can name. While not rare in Rome that is a homily for another time.
Attempted murder is generally frowned upon in the halls of government, at least in the U.S. But . . . . character assassination, false accusations, backstabbing, and slander on social media are modern equivalents. Destroying another's reputation is as lethal as a spear through the heart.
The second reading explains the reason for sinful human behavior in concise terms. Adam, the first man, was from the earth and of the earth. Thus, Paul wrote: "As was the earthly one, so also are the earthly."
We will be reminded of our earthly origins in just ten days as ashes are imposed on our foreheads to the formula, "Recall that thou art dust and to dust thou shalt return." No getting around that fact. We are from the earth and will return to it in due course.
Jesus, the new Adam, was of heaven. In his obedience he atoned for the sin of Adam, the original sin that we carry within us, the sin of arrogance and pride. The penitential prayer in the Carthusian rite of the Mass is simpler than in the Roman . It begins: "I confess to Almighty God that I have sinned through pride . . . " Pride was the sin of Adam and Eve.
Jesus the heavenly man is the image we desire. That image is within our grasp. As Paul wrote, "Just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly one."
But how can those of the earth bear the image of the one of heaven? The prescription is given in the gospel. It is not an easy-to-fill prescription, it is definitely not an over-the-counter remedy, by any stretch of the imagination. Love your enemies . . . . Bless those who curse you . . . Offer unstinting generosity . . . Do to others as you would have them do unto you . . . Some of those prescriptions are particularly challenging today: Do not judge . . . . Do not condemn . . . Forgive and be forgiven . . . And, a second mention of unstinting generosity.
The politization of covid has resulted in appalling judgments of others, harsh condemnations, and vile imprecations, on both sides of the issue. At the end of October a column by Arthur Caplan an NYU bioethicist who is fortunately not a physician charged with the care of the ill, appeared on Medscape, a physicians' website under the title: "IT IS OK FOR DOCS TO REFUSE TO TREAT UNVACCINATED PATIENTS." Not only is it not OK to refuse treatment on the basis of vaccination status, it is immoral, not unlike those passers-by who ignored a brutalized man lying in the gutter until a Samaritan happened upon the scene. Some celebrity types have suggested that it is permissible to punch in the faces of those who refuse to be vaccinated. Do not judge. Do not condemn. Yeah, right.
The challenges here are great. When is calling something sin judgmental and in error and when is it necessary to call sin for what it is? When must we forgive? What is unforgiveable? When is it possible to restore trust? When must we remain forever untrusting of another? Each of us must struggle to answer these questions. The struggle is eased by the consolations in the psalm:
"He pardons all your iniquities,
heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
crowns you with kindness and compassion."
True, we must ask for that pardon and healing. Ideally, it helps us to amend our lives. But . . . . pardon, redemption, and healing are there for the asking.
"Merciful and gracious is the LORD,"
slow to anger and abounding in kindness
Not according to our sins does he deal with us,
nor does he requite us according to our crimes."
In response to this consolation we can only sing to acknowledge, "The Lord is kind and merciful."
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