Jealousy Can Motivate for the Good or Turn And Attack Goodness
April 14, 2010
The high priest and all his companions...filled with jealousy, laid hands upon the apostles and put them in the public jail.
Jealousy can be a powerful emotion and if we act on it, it's often for the bad. In this morning's readings the jealousy of the leaders turned to attack goodness in the person of the apostles who were proclaiming the good news of the gospel.
If we're trying to be good and imitate Jesus, we should expect it to be difficult. He promised us it would be.
Whenever we experience jealousy, we should resist acting against someone and let jealousy shine a light on our own behavior. It might motivate us to become a better parent, or priest, or student - if those are people we envy. Or we might be inspired to train harder to become a more accomplished athlete. But we shouldn't attack goodness.