Blessings or No Blessings
“Envy
not the lawless man and choose none of his ways; to the Lord the
perverse man is an abomination but with the upright is his friendship.”
Sometimes
we wish these words from the book of Proverbs were that simple. The
Holy Book says the lawless is an abomination to the Lord but sometimes
it’s difficult not to envy the lawless especially when the lawless seems
to prosper even if the Bible says he is an abomination. This is
difficult to see when our criteria of abomination and prosperity is only
on the surface level — the material and the physical.
While
it is true that prosperity and blessings come with living according to
the ways of God, the prosperity promised to the just is a prosperity
that exists at the deepest level. It is a friendship and prosperity that
can also exist amidst, alongside of, and despite the greatest
suffering. In a similar vein, the abomination promised to the perverse
is an abomination at the deepest level. An abomination that can co-exist
alongside of and despite the greatest temporal success. That is
frightening. Temporal success can blind one to the internal abomination
that is really going on in one’s soul, in one’s inner life. That is why
God tells
us not to envy the lawless.
There’s
a famous American actor who is good-looking, with a beautiful wife and
children. He’s a star of a TV sitcom which reportedly pays him a million
dollars per episode. Last year, he checked into a rehab for drug and
sex addictions. His home studio cancelled his contract and his wife left
him with the children. He would pay sexual partners as many as five a
night to accompany him during his lonely nights. He looked blessed on
the outside, but inside he was cursed. When you have to pay for
companionship, that’s as lonely as one can get.
While
we claim the blessings promised to the just, we keep to heart the
admonition of today’s psalm: “He who does justice shall live on the
Lord’s holy mountain.”Fr. Joel Jason
REFLECTION QUESTIONS: Are you given to envy to the point that you actually envy the lawless? How much do you persevere in pursuing the good?
Lord
Jesus, in the midst or absence of material blessings, I journey on the
path of Your righteousness. Bless my resolve, Lord. Amen.
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