Envy: The Violation of the Tenth Commandment

Reflection on Today's Readings, Saturday, 15th Week in Ordinary Time Year II, 18th July, 2020
Texts: Micah 2:1-5; Ps. 10:1-4,7-8,14; Matt. 12:14-21

Today's Readings speak against envy, the violation of the tenth commandment: "Do not desire another man's wife; do not desire his house, his land, his slaves, his cattle, his donkeys, or anything else that he owns" (Deut. 20:21; Ex. 20:17). The first reading speaks against oppression of the poor and the act of dispossessing them of  their properties. Prophet Micah says,  "They covet fields, and seize them; and houses, and take them away; they oppress a man and his house, a man and his inheritance". He recalled that the powerful men had turned this evil act into business. He puts thus: "Woe to those who devise wickedness and work evil upon their beds! When the morning dawns, they perform it, because it is in the power of their hand". However, Micah reminds us that God takes account of the evil done to the poor. He tells us that God will visit the perpetrator of the evil with their own coins. God does not forget the poor.

Today's gospel shows how God, in Jesus Christ, shares from the lot of the poor. Jesus Christ became the victim of the powerful men in his time; they conspired to destroy him. It will not be wrong to say that one of the reasons for conspiring against Jesus Christ was because they envied his achievements.

Envy is the problem of our nation today; it has given birth to bribery and corruption, misappropriation of funds; we all now covet public fund and property. Cheating, terrorism, theft, kidnapping, armrobbery, fraud are offshoots of envy.

Envy is a disorder of desire in human nature; a disorder in term of misplacement of focus or object. In envy human desire is oriented towards earthly good instead of sovereign good, God. Envy gets hold of us when our hearts are set on earth instead of heaven. Jesus Christ says, "For your heart will always be where your riches are" (Matt. 6:21).  Hence, the Church says, "All Christ's faithful are to "direct their affections rightly, lest they be hindered in their pursuit of perfect charity by the use of worldly things and by an adherence to riches which is contrary to the spirit of evangelical poverty." (CCC No: 2545). We conquer envy when we set our hearts on God and his kingdom; we have to desire the Holy Spirit and walk in the ways of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God our Father, deliver us from the vice of envy so as to be able to raise our hearts to you. Amen.

Fr. Andrew Olowomuke