THIRTY-EIGHTH LESSON
On Envy.
"Neither will I go with consuming envy; for such a man shall not be partaker of wisdom."—Wisdom 6:25.
Envy is a feeling of sadness, caused by the advantages or the happiness of our equals. Oh, my children, what a mean fault! how shameful and despicable! Do you not consider it particularly as the sign of a very bad heart? Ought we not naturally to rejoice in the happiness of others? Even that has but little merit in it; a kind heart only is shown by it.
Envy, my children, is also a proof of great vanity. It is the longing after praise, the desire to be admired, which is often the greatest cause of the envy we feel towards others. Did we but envy good qualities and virtues! If that little girl, so jealous of her companion, only wished to be like her in her amiable disposition, in her attention to study, it would be more excusable; and might even end in creating useful emulation. But what the little jealous girl envies are ordinarily frivolous and petty things; a pretty face, even less, a fine dress, a ribbon--and I do not know what else?
Generally speaking, envy has its source in pride, and in its turn leads to very dreadful consequences. Envy makes you egotistical, unjust, often wicked, and always unhappy.
It leads to selfishness, for an envious person wishes to have everything to himself, so as to leave nothing to others. Envy makes us unjust, for we are disposed to judge severely those of whom we are jealous. I greatly fear the little girl of whom we were speaking just now may not do justice to her companion, when this latter does something well. But it is not her fault, my child, if she be better than you, and if her temper be sweeter and more amiable than yours. Such advantages should not excite envy.
Envy may make you quite wicked. When you are vexed that others are happy, you are very near rejoicing at any misfortune that may happen to them. Nothing can be more wicked than that, nothing is more against the Christian charity God orders us to feel for one another, the effect of which is to make us sympathize with the misfortune as well as with the happiness of our brethren.
It is impossible to think without trembling, my children, of the awful crimes which are often the consequences of jealousy. It caused the death of Abel, it was jealousy that led Joseph's brothers to sell him as a slave, and the Pharisees to condemn our Lord. By remembering these terrible examples, you may easily understand, my children, what the Apostle St. Paul said in one of his epistles, "The envious man will not obtain the kingdom of heaven."
Never, then, let this evil passion take root in your heart. If you see it beginning to penetrate there, if you perceive any proofs of it in yourself, hasten to destroy them. Envy would not only make you guilty, but most certainly would also make you miserable. First, you would be unhappy, because you would be displeased with yourself; then, besides, to envy the good things you have not, disgusts you even with those you possess; unhappy also, because no one would share your sorrow. It is so shameful to be jealous, that you would not dare own it to any one; and it is double suffering, my children, not to be able to ask your friends to pity you, or God to console you.
A sort of jealousy, more excusable without doubt than the first, but the consequences of which unfortunately are no less terrible, is that which is to be met with sometimes between brothers and sisters, in regard to the affection of their parents. This jealously disturbs a whole family: it destroys the bond of union between the children, and saddens the father and mother, who notwithstanding their wish and the care they take, never succeed in dividing all things with such perfect equality, that the jealous child may not suspect some injustice. It often is an over-sensitiveness which makes a child fear he is less beloved in the family. If I knew this poor child, I would call him to me, and I would say to him: "My dear, it is almost sure that the injustice of which you complain exists only in your imagination." The most natural sentiment to all parents, is to love all their children with an equal affection. Parents' tenderness may not always show itself in the same way, and notwithstanding be the same in the depth of their heart; thus, a mother will often give up the greatest part of the day to her eldest son, because it is required on account of the importance of his education: but in the meantime, perhaps she will oftener caress the youngest, because caresses alone are the proper language understood by quite little children, the only way to make them understand their mother's affection.
Now, if there be in a family a weak or invalid child, is it not right that every one should be more engaged with him than with all the others, and that he should become, so to speak, his parents' pet child? His brothers and sisters, far from complaining, ought to take their share of the care bestowed on him. It seems also natural to me, to caress little girls more than little boys: not because boys are less beloved, but girls are weaker, and at an early age you already begin to treat boys as men.
Let us nevertheless, my dear child, suppose that the little difference which grieves you, really exists: is it not your fault? If you are less loved, is it not because you are much less amiable, less prompt to obey your parents, less ready to do everything to please them? In this case, you have really no right to complain, and rather than give way to your grief, you ought to think of correcting yourself. You would then learn very quickly how to regain the affection of your family
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