Kindness and Envy
Virtue and Vice #2
This week we are going to look at kindness and its deadly counterpart, envy. Kindness is the concern and consideration of others. In 1 Corinthians (the verses we hear at just about every wedding), we learn that love is kind. To love as Jesus, we must put others before ourselves.
“Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile” ~ St. Teresa of Calcutta
Envy goes beyond jealousy over what someone else has. When we are envious of someone else, we don’t just want the good that person has, we also don’t want them to have it, or worse. Envy is the disordered sorrow toward the good someone has received and a desire to detract from said good. We find envy often in scripture, for example, when David returned after defeating Goliath, King Saul was envious. Saul was more than jealous of the love and attention David received. Saul’s envy was so great that he plotted to have David killed (1 Samuel 18).
Saint Veronica is the traditional patron saint of kindness. Let’s pray together and ask for her intercession to increase in us the virtue of kindness in order to crush all temptation toward envy.
O My Jesus, Saint Veronica served You on the way to Calvary by wiping Your beloved face with a towel on which Your sacred image then appeared. She protected this treasure, and whenever people touched it, they were miraculously healed. I ask her to pray for the growth of my ability to see Your sacred image in others, to recognize their hurts, to stop and join them on their difficult journeys, and to feel the same compassion for them as she did for you. Show me how to wipe their faces, serve their needs, and heal their wounds, reminding me that as I do this for them, I also do this for You. Saint Veronica, pray for me. Amen.