"SAUL WAS JEALOUS OF DAVID."

Homily for January 18^th, 2018: 1 Sam. 18:6-9; 19:1-7.       

          When Saul and David return, after David’s slaying of the Philistine giant, Goliath, they are met by women cheering this great victory, dancing for joy and singing: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” Saul, we heard in the first reading, was “very angry and resentful of the song, for he thought: ‘They give David ten thousands, but only thousands to me. All that remains for him is the kingship.’ And from that day on, Saul was jealous of David.”

          Despite his jealousy, Saul does not permit David to return to his father in Bethlehem. He retains David to play the harp for him, because of the music’s soothing effect. One day, while David is playing the harp, Saul bursts out in a rage and twice throws a Javelin at David. Both times David is able to save his life by dodging the weapon, which becomes implanted in the wall. This incident, which is omitted from our reading for the sake of brevity, shows the violence of the king’s anger, the fruit of his jealousy.

          Omitted too is the story of David’s pact of friendship with Saul’s son Jonathan, which Jonathan seals by taking off his tunic and cloak and giving them to David. The love between the two is genuine and deep. It is a happy contrast to Saul’s envy and hatred, which the biblical account ascribes to an “evil spirit of the Lord” overcoming the king.

          By means of what we would call today “shuttle diplomacy” Jonathan is able to pacify his father, at least for a time, by reminding the king of David’s bravery and the great service he has done for Saul and his people, by killing Goliath and fighting off the Philistines.

          The jealousy which inflicts Saul is one of the capital sins, so-called because they cause other sins – in Saul’s case his attempts to kill David. Jealousy is the one sin which brings its own punishment with it. For when we give way to jealousy we are miserable. What is the remedy for such dark thoughts? Gratitude! If we are thanking God daily and even hourly for all the things we do have, we will find that, over time, fretting over the things that others have, and we do not, disappears – to be replaced by the joy over the good things God bestows on us, so much more than we deserve.

 

» 01/23/2014 12:08 VATICAN Pope: gossip, the offspring of jealousy and envy, "the devil’s weapons" that destroy the community "When a Christian community suffers - some of its members - from envy, jealousy it becomes divided: one against the other. This is a powerful poison. It is the poison that we find on the first page of the Bible with Cain". Vatican City ( AsiaNews) - Jealousy and envy create bitterness in those who subject to them and they generate gossip". "Gossip divides the community, it destroys the community. They are the weapons of the devil". These were the words of Pope Francis today during morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta , in which he asked to pray that these evils are not sown in Christian communities. Vatican Radio reports that the Pope was reflecting on the passage of the Bible that tells of the victory of the Israelites over the Philistines thanks to the courage of the young David. The joy of victory soon turned to sadness and jealousy of King Saul, when faced with the women who praise David for killing Goliath. Thus, "the great victory begins to transform itself into a defeat in the heart of the King". As was the case with Cain, the "worm of jealousy and envy" insinuates itself. And like Cain and Abel, the king decides to kill David. "This is what jealousy does to our hearts, it is an evil restlessness, which can not tolerate that a brother or sister has something that I have not ." Saul , "instead of praising God for this victory as the women of Israel did, prefers to withdraw into himself, grow bitter" and "boil his feelings in a broth of bitterness". "Jealousy leads to murder. Envy leads to murder. This was the very door, the door of envy, through which the devil entered the world. The Bible says: 'Evil came into this world through the devil's envy'. Jealousy and envy open the door to all sorts of evil. They also divide the community. When a Christian community suffers - some of its members - from envy, jealousy it becomes divided: one against the other. This is a powerful poison. It is the poison that we find on the first page of the Bible with Cain". In the heart of a person affected by jealousy and envy "two very clear things" happen.  First, bitterness. "The envious person , the jealous person is a bitter person: they can not sing, they can not praise, they do not know what joy is, they are always looking at what the other person has that I have not'. And this leads to bitterness, bitterness that spreads over the whole community. These are sowers of bitterness. Secondly jealousy and envy lead to gossip. Because this person cannot stand that the other has something, the solution to the problem is to drag them down, so that I can be a littler higher up. And the tool to do this is gossip. If you look closely you will always find that behind every rumor lies jealousy and envy. Gossip divides the community, destroys the community. They are the devil's weapons". "How many beautiful Christian communities" were doing quite well when, suddenly the worm of jealousy and envy insinuated itself into one of the members and, with this, sadness, resentment of hearts and gossip. "A person who is under the influence of envy and jealousy kills ," as the apostle John says : "Whoever hates his brother is a murderer ." And "the envious , the jealous , begins to hate his brother". "Today, in this Mass - concluded the Pope - we pray for our Christian communities , so that the seed of jealousy is not sown among us, so that envy does not take root in our heart, in the heart of our communities, and so we can move ahead with the praise of the Lord , praising the Lord with joy. This is a great grace , the grace not to fall into sadness, resentment, jealousy and envy .

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