jealousy

1 Samuel 18:6-9;19:1-7; Ps 56 In God I trust; I shall not fear; Mark 3:7-12

"Saul 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."

Jealousy! What a terrific emotion that reeks havoc with the human mind and heart.

Jealousy is a perversion of charity.

St. Thomas Aquinas points out that True Charity rejoices in the good of the other where as Envy (Jealousy) is sadden by the good of the other. It is this negative emotion that drives the bitterness and resentment.

Saul thought he might lose his advantage point. He felt he was exclusively entitled to praise, after all he was the king. Saul was attached to praise, notoriety, fortune, and attention and when all eyes weren't on him then he was bothered to point where we shall see if we follow the story that he tires to kill David. Saul secretly wants David to fail and if he can't fail then he tries to kill him.

Saul wanted to be center stage and did not want to be upstaged by anyone, nonetheless this shepherd boy and his five smooth pebbles, this youth.
What saul failed to remember was the fact that God is the only one that belongs in the center of the stage. It was God who anointed saul as king; it was God who empowered David to stand triumphant.

Losing sight of this was detrimental to his health emotional, spiritual, and psychological. As we follow the story we see how Saul's psychological well being deteriorates with his jealousy.
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The inability to rejoice in the good of the other. How often does this reek havoc on the soul.
Saul could have made this rejoicing over David a gran occasion and could have been magnanimous, but rather he became stingy in soul and bitter in life.

We all can fall prey to this. We must root it out quickly and steadily as often as it arises. We do so by reminding ourselves the words ofSt. Paul, "when one rejoices, we all rejoice" for we are all the body of Christ.

Another man's fortune belongs to us as an opportunity to rejoice.