Lord, don’t let me have a jealous heart. Please help me overcome the sin of envy with the virtue of charity. With your grace, I can avoid having a jealous heart. I want to choose charitable deeds whenever I’m tempted to envy others. Lord, you know my heart and the ways I see myself. You see when I measure by human standards and when I secretly seek what others have. I want to be accepted and loved by others. Help me grow in the virtue of charity, so that I do not measure my worth by human means or allow myself become jealous of others.
Jesus, I want true charity toward others and the grace to overcome a jealous heart. If you give me grace I can avoid the sin of envy and do many charitable deeds with a pure heart. The deeper I understand your love for me, the more I see the need to be charitable. I cannot have the virtue of charity if I have a jealous heart that struggles with the sin of envy. Jealousy makes me look inward toward myself and does not allow me to see the needs of others.
I know that you love me and if I ask for this grace you will give it to me. You have been there for me throughout my life, never abandoning me even in my darkest hour. Please, Lord, increase in me the virtue of charity so that I might replace the sin of envy with a willingness to do charitable deeds for others. I do not want a jealous heart, but rather a heart like yours.
AMEN.
“Envy represents a form of sadness and therefore a refusal of charity; the baptized person should struggle against it by exercising good will. Envy often comes from pride; the baptized person should train himself to live in humility: Would you like to see God glorified by you? Then rejoice in your brother's progress and you will immediately give glory to God. Because his servant could conquer envy by rejoicing in the merits of others, God will be praised.”
Overcome my Jealous Heart by Choosing Charitable Deeds
Those Surrounded in Body by Sharp Thorns and Leprous of Soul
by St. Hildegard von Bingen
But others are surrounded in body by sharp thorns and leprous of soul. For these are surrounded in their hearts by anger, hate and envy, and by these thorns of iniquity they drive out of themselves gentleness, sweetness and charity; and, desiring evil and abandoning good, and troubling other people with mockery and invective, they make their souls as impure as if covered with terrible sores. And those who approach the divine mystery in such a state gravely injure themselves; but nevertheless, if they then bitterly punish themselves and seek My grace by repentance, I turn My eyes toward them.
Scivias, Book 2 Vision Six Paragraph 55
Week 17 of the Virtue Meditations Series
Overcome my Jealous Heart by Choosing Charitable Deeds
Reflection:
Do I rejoice in the merits of others or do I harbor secret envy? The image for this week’s meditation on the sin of envy depicts a golden apple surrounded by barbed wire. The golden apple symbolizes both the envy of the fallen angels and the envy of fallen mankind. Envy is an obsession with the desired thing that is unattainable. It is mixed with resentment and anger toward the one who has what you want. You believe in your jealous heart that if only the golden apple could be yours all would be well with your soul.
Sin of Envy is “Gehenna”
St. Hildegard of Bingen nicknames the sin of envy as “Gehenna” in her writings, so envy is literally hellish. Anyone who has suffered from envy knows this at a deep level. Jealousy operates out of a place of anger and resentment and it wants to punish the one who has the desired object. The urge is so strong that you can’t find joy in God or others, or be content with your life.
Ask yourself, have I ever been guilty of wanting something so badly that I was willing to do something evil just to obtain it? Many of us have done something evil out of envy. Maybe you have been the victim of a jealous person so you know what it feels like to be the target of a jealous heart. We are all guilty of doing selfish things and choosing sin over righteousness, and most of us can relate to jealousy in some way.
Do I Build Up or Tear Down?
St. Hildegard of Bingen describes the sin of envy in her book, Liber Vitae Meritorum. She says the soul with a jealous heart strikes at those they see growing in faith and speaking the truth, who have what they want and believe they cannot attain. Disturbed by envy, someone with a jealous heart will “bite at the righteous like a serpent“, inflicting pain on them as a punishment for their success. We wrongfully think that by hurting the one we envy this will somehow make us feel better. If we are honest with ourselves we know the opposite is true. Destruction never brings about peace. Our sinful actions will leave us with emptiness and give us a guilty conscience. According to Bingen, envy says: “I draw many to myself and pollute all things that God does. If I cannot have the things that are bright, I value them as nothing” (third part, paragraph 7). This perfectly illustrates the vicious cycle of envy, anger, and the abuse that ensues from this vice.
How Can I Be More Charitable?
If you want to overcome the sin of envy and become truly loving you have to pray for it and do charitable deeds. Charity is the highest form of love, and we cannot acquire it without the help of God. In fact, when we take holy Communion, we receive the very heart of Christ. Bingen describes charity as inspirations of the Holy Spirit that stir within the hearts of the righteous. She likens it to the air around us. The virtue of charity is the life force of the Christian soul. Charity indiscriminately nourishes all of mankind with the love of God.
We are only capable of love if we are righteous and in union with the Holy Spirit. When we do charitable deeds we grow in spiritual maturity and this gives us the strength to overcome bad habits and the sins of the heart. Charity binds wounds and restores. It unifies and heals. Have you ever heard the phrase, “fake it until you make it”? If you want to grow in the virtue of charity and overcome a jealous heart you need to start doing charitable deeds regardless of the desires of your heart and sinful inclinations. Just make the decision to do charitable deeds anyway. Do this every day. Keep doing it and soon you will notice a change of heart.
What Can I do this Week in Charity?
Take a few moments to reflect on someone that you can bring the love of Christ to through the virtue of charity. This may or may not be someone who has tempted you with the sin of envy. Ask the Lord to stir up your heart to do holy works for God this week and listen for his response to you. Pray for the ability to do a charitable deed throughout the day. God will give you the opportunity, and when he does ask him what he wants you to do.
As you strive to be a righteous soul who lives for God and does holy works, try to reflect on how you can embody the virtue of charity in your daily activities. Who has God put in your life that needs care? Can you offer your time, your talents, or donate money for this person’s well being? Bingen describes charity as “the rain that rises from the dew through which the grass rejoices with rich life.” Reread that and ponder it.
If we could be the rain that nourishes the grass, we would see a greater healing in our land and more souls would desire Christ simply because they are drawn to our charitable hearts and touched by our charitable deeds. If you struggle with envy, take the time this week to praise and compliment the person you envy and then pray for God to bless them and help them be a blessing to others for his sake. Ask the Lord to help you overcome your envy, and submit yourself to the will of God and be a blessing to others.
Going Further:
If you’d like to go further, read the following passage from Genesis 4 to ponder how the sin of envy leads to death and separation from God, and how God in his mercy continues to love and offer mercy even to the most envious of souls, full of hatred and far from God:
The Jealous Heart of Cain
In the course of time Cain brought an offering to the LORD from the fruit of the ground, while Abel, for his part, brought the fatty portion of the firstlings of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry and dejected.
Then the LORD said to Cain: Why are you angry? Why are you dejected? If you act rightly, you will be accepted; but if not, sin lies in wait at the door: its urge is for you, yet you can rule over it.
Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.” When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
Then the LORD asked Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
God then said: “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are banned from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. If you till the ground, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a constant wanderer on the earth.”
Cain said to the LORD: “My punishment is too great to bear. Look, you have now banished me from the ground. I must avoid you and be a constant wanderer on the earth. Anyone may kill me at sight.”
“Not so!” the LORD said to him. “If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged seven times.” So the LORD put a mark on Cain, so that no one would kill him at sight. Cain then left the LORD’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
Let us Pray:
Now that we understand the virtue of charity and the sin of envy, let’s begin with a prayer of petition for it.
Virtue of Charity over the Sin of Envy
Prayer of Petition
Eternal Father, I am the work of your creation, made in your image and likeness but too weak to conquer the devil by my own power. I ask you for the grace to grow in virtue, surrendering all my thoughts, words, and deeds to you. Please help me resist the devil and all his tricks. Jesus says that whoever believes in him will do the works that he does and that whatever we ask in Jesus’ name he will do so that You may be glorified. Heavenly Father, you sent us your Son to show us what it means to have perfect virtue in life. Jesus is fully human and fully divine and has perfect virtue. Father, have mercy on me and please give me the grace I need to grow in the virtue of charity so that I might grow in holiness and imitate Christ in my thoughts, words, and deeds. AMEN.
Now let’s contemplate the sin of envy by listening to a Gospel reading from the book of Mark. Slowly meditate on the following passage, reflecting on the sin of envy. Take your time. Pause over a word or phrase that speaks to your heart. Reread the passage again, and then ask Jesus to show you how you can imitate him in his charity and better overcome envy toward others and the resentments you struggle with. Choose a word or phrase from this passage to write in your journal, and add your thoughts. Go back and prayerfully re-read it throughout the week.
Virtue of Charity over the Sin of Envy
The Sentence of Death
from the Gospel of Mark Chapter 15
Now on the occasion of the feast he used to release to them one prisoner whom they requested. A man called Barabbas was then in prison along with the rebels who had committed murder in a rebellion. The crowd came forward and began to ask him to do for them as he was accustomed.
Pilate answered, “Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?” For he knew that it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed him over.
But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release Barabbas for them instead.
Pilate again said to them in reply, “Then what do you want me to do with the man you call the king of the Jews?”
They shouted again, “Crucify him.”
Pilate said to them, “Why? What evil has he done?” They only shouted the louder, “Crucify him.”
So Pilate, wishing to satisfy the crowd, released Barabbas to them and, after he had Jesus scourged, handed him over to be crucified.
"Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy. Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel, called "Satan" or the "devil". The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."
Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels. This "fall" consists in the free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the tempter's words to our first parents: "You will be like God." The devil "has sinned from the beginning"; he is "a liar and the father of lies".
It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable. "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."
Let us Pray:
Jesus, I want to overcome my tendency toward jealousy and become more charitable toward others. Cain killed Abel due to the sin of envy and it separated him from God. Envy led the chief priests to ask Pilate to crucify you instead of Barabbas. Their envy made them stir up the crowd and created a hellish scene. I can’t imagine your pain in that moment. You were all good, all loving, completely innocent.
How has my jealous heart caused the death of something good? Please, Lord, protect me from the sin of envy and give me the grace of a charitable heart that wants to do charitable deeds. Let me imitate you. Let me meditate on your death and crucifixion, on the consummation of your love. This was the ultimate charitable deed in the face of ravenous envy. They thought your death would satisfy their envy. But your death brought about the destruction of death itself. You conquered death by an act of perfect charity.
Jesus, keep me in your name. Protect me and guard me from the sin of envy. Do not let me be lost. Do not let me be like the chief priests. Please protect me from Gehenna. Give me a pure heart and help me desire to do charitable deeds. Help me imitate you in the way you love all people, even those who persecute you and kill the righteous.
I do not want to belong to this world. Consecrate me in the truth. Send me, Lord, into the world to do charitable deeds with my brothers and sisters in Christ for the people of the world.
Jesus, you are a gift to me. Thank you for being present to me. Give me the grace to be present to you and to grow in the virtue of charity. AMEN.
Virtue of Charity over the Sin of Envy
A Prayer for an Increase in Virtue for Others
Lord Jesus Christ, you say that when two or more are gathered in your name, you are with us. Jesus, in your name I lift up every person who has joined this prayer challenge or will join it in the future. I ask you to give us all the grace we need to grow in virtue and holiness so that we may love and serve you in our lives and through the people we love and care for. Help us in our thoughts, our words, and our actions. Guide us all by your Holy Spirit and give us the strength to overcome every temptation from the evil one. We ask all this in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN.
Together as a group we will pray for each other and strive to make good resolutions and keep them. Remember, it’s your heart that God wants to capture. Your efforts are out of love for him and a desire to imitate him as best you can in charity.
If you fail, do not quit trying. Be merciful to yourself and learn to love the process of striving to be more like Jesus every day. Just take it one day at a time, and stay in the present moment with Jesus. Being virtuous is a process. No one is perfect, so just start anew every time you fail.
How do I Practice Virtue?
You’ve learned about the virtue of charity, and you’ve prayed for God to give you grace. Now what? Let’s take a look at the Catechism for some guidance on how we can make Week 17 a successful effort.
“Because of its common origin the human race forms a unity, for "from one ancestor [God] made all nations to inhabit the whole earth":
O wondrous vision, which makes us contemplate the human race in the unity of its origin in God in the unity of its nature, composed equally in all men of a material body and a spiritual soul; in the unity of its immediate end and its mission in the world; in the unity of its dwelling, the earth, whose benefits all men, by right of nature, may use to sustain and develop life; in the unity of its supernatural end: God himself, to whom all ought to tend; in the unity of the means for attaining this end;. . . in the unity of the redemption wrought by Christ for all.
"This law of human solidarity and charity", without excluding the rich variety of persons, cultures and peoples, assures us that all men are truly brethren.”
Making Resolutions
Take a moment to reflect on the virtue of charity over the sin of envy. What are the ways you can freely practice this virtue this week? Ask the Lord to give you opportunities, and when you feel the Holy Spirit prompting you, take action. Write down your resolutions for this coming week in your prayer journal. Remind yourself to complete these resolutions daily for this entire week, and as the Spirit prompts you, feel free to write about your experiences with this virtue throughout the week.
In My Thoughts:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my thoughts by… (make your intention).
In My Words:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my words by… (make your intention).
In My Actions:
Jesus, this week I promise to take time daily to conform my actions by… (make your intention).
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Week 18 Mental Prayer Meditation
Overcome Sin of Vainglory with Fear of Offending God
“Overcome Sin of Vainglory with Fear of Offending God” – Join us for our 18th meditation on the 35 virtues of St. Hildegard of Bingen.
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