Jealousy is an ugly thing: Reflection for Wednesday, April 30, 2025

The Jewish leaders are filled with jealousy. And this is preventing them from seeing the actions of God. Do we miss the actions of God by our own jealousy? Readings for Today.

Jealousy is an ugly thing

There are feelings that once they arise, the best thing we can do is acknowledge them and then move on. Feelings such as anxiety, or envy, or jealousy. This is because they focus either on things that are in the future and may not happen, or they focus on things that we don’t have, often at the expense of the blessings we do have.

Focusing on what we don’t have (things, jobs, not having the popularity or talents of others) causes us to enter into a rut that can never satisfy. It simply is not the case that focusing on what we do not have can ever cause us to feel fulfilled.

And worse yet, focusing on what we do not have can cause us to be blind to the blessings and gifts we do have. The Jewish leaders face this problem. Despite the tremendous blessings that Peter and John have accomplished (albeit God accomplished through them) the Jewish leaders are jealous. And they cannot see the hand of God.

This really can happen in our own life. Maybe we focus so much on not getting a promotion we do not acknowledge that we have a job. Focusing on the talent we do not have means we might not recognize all of the talents we do have.

What was the outline of Christian living in the early Church? “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread and to the prayers.” They knew that without a clear focus on Jesus and the Holy Spirit, they would not be vehicles of God’s grace.

But when they did do this, what was the outcome? “Awe came upon everyone, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.” And we can see just how amazing is the way in which God is acting in people’s lives. But we can miss out on these amazing things when we find ourselves focused only on what is going wrong.

The message of the Resurrection is one of hope. Not hope in the sense of optimism that things will turn out well. No, it is hope that God has given us all we need to be saved. God has poured into our hearts and souls the grace we need to live as Jesus lived.

For consider what Jesus did not do while he was on earth. He did not overthrow the Romans, or even correct their abuses. He did not really work for systemic change. He fully understood the place that evil had in the world. He did not offer a new program, or a simple solution. Jesus offered salvation.

When we look at the world today it can be easy to become angry, or frustrated. We can ask ourselves just where is God? We can wonder just why everyone does not see the world the way I do. I can even find myself wishing ill will on those who I witness treating people poorly, or taking out actions on the poor.

But the ultimate task of faith is to see God clearly in our lives. How do we do that? Well, first we recognize gratitude. We recognize the power of the Eucharist. We worship God and develop the attitude that gives thanks to God.

Second, we take the words of Matthew 25 seriously. Every time we help a person to receive basic needs (and basic rights) we are making them available to Christ. Every time we turn our back on those in need, we are actually turning our back on Christ.

The gospel underscores this way of looking at the world.

“God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son,
so that everyone who believes in him might not perish
but might have eternal life.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but that the world might be saved through him.”

God has come into our lives so that we can have hope. God has come into our lives to strengthen our faith. And God, more than anything, was us to be loved and to love.

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