Mtr Mary Trainor
“...the crowds were astounded….”
Dear friend,
Jealousy is a powerful force. By whatever name, it can destroy at least two people: the one who is envied, and the one who envies. Sometimes the destruction is even more widespread.
We are quite accustomed to the jealousies that Jesus inspires. He is often denounced, loudly or quietly, by the powers that be. He speaks against their various spiritual tyrannies over people, For the very reasons we love him, they hate him.
He is not denounced in today’s Office Gospel (Matthew 7:28-8:4.) So, why talk of jealousy here. First, a look at the scripture. In it, there does not seem to be one Pharisee or one scribe. Just regular people, like us. People in need of hope and direction. People in need of healing. And, for all, their needs were met.
“...and great crowds followed him...”
A few decades ago, I worked in a grant-funded education program housed at one of California’s state hospitals. Each year of the program required an evaluation, followed by an application for the next year’s funding. It wasn’t rocket science, but there were specific protocols for each step. I oversaw the person who made this happen, so flawlessly that you could be fooled into assuming it was easy.
Enter a new school principal. She was the last person on the state’s list of presumed qualified people so, de facto, the job went to her.
The new principal came in just when evaluation/application processes were under way, and she watched with increasing anxiety as the lower-level staff member breezed through the documents, the sheer volume of which overwhelmed the new principal.
She was so threatened, so jealous of this person’s skills, she decided they had to go. No matter the cost.
A year later, the principal so thoroughly botched the process that the grant was permanently taken away from this hospital. Thirty-something people lost their jobs. Two hundred children were deprived of enrichment services. All because of jealousy.
In today’s Gospel, we encounter the teaching, loving, healing, inspiring Jesus that we have come to know and trust. His message appealed to a hurting world. It still does.
But there’s a dark side to popularity which, to some extent, is what his opponents thought he was. So popular, he was now perceived as a threat. It could cause an upset, a revolt, a takeover. It had to be stopped. At any cost.
“...and great crowds followed him...”
We hear people say, “She (or he) doesn’t have a jealous bone in her body.” I’m pretty sure no one says that about me, at least no one who can read my mind. But I earnestly work at curbing my own green-eyed monster. It serves no good purpose. It can separate me from the truth, feelings, love, loyalty, and more.
Unchecked jealousy can even have fatal consequences.
Mtr. Mary