Each summer our parish undertakes a mission trip to Appalachia to serve people in need. Although I am mainly along as a spiritual guide, I also help out on site. In my mind I would like to fancy myself another Bob Vila, but I actually know little about home repair. On one trip, I found myself on a roofing crew, which is much harder than Bob the Builder makes it look. It was brutally hot up there, I tarred my pants to the chimney and I even managed to nail my sleeve to the roof. That certainly provided amusement for a few of our teens, but it also was embarrassing and caused a little envy on my part. Some of the kids were very talented, and they made the work appear effortless. I wasn’t hoping to moonlight at Home Depot, but I at least wanted to appear competent.

As usual, the Lord provided a remedy, this time in the form of a Wednesday audience from Pope Francis that revolved around jealousy. The pope had some profound words of wisdom. “When I am jealous,” he said, “I must say to the Lord: ‘Thank you, Lord, for you have given this [gift] to that person.” I needed that reminder of gratitude to appreciate that all people and their talents are a gift from God. In theory, it was something that I have reflected upon often. In practice, though, jealousy is always lurking and ready to pounce and destroy our peace if we allow it.

The Scriptures are chock full of examples of jealousy and how it destroys a relationship with God and others, stories that are often more sordid than an episode of Maury Povich. There is, of course, the famous example of Cain and Abel, one that ended in shameful fratricide (Gn 4:3-8). There is the saga of Saul and David (1 Sm 18:6-9), which erupted due to Saul’s envy over David’s rising popularity and success as a military leader. Even Peter after the Resurrection succumbed to jealousy over the fate of John, the beloved disciple (Jn 21:21-22).

Appreciating the gifts we have

All these instances demonstrate what can happen when we no longer celebrate the gifts of another; they also demonstrate the need to be vigilant over our own feelings. As St. John of God instructed us, in spiritual battles our own passions often will betray us. He writes, “The devil attracts us by constantly laying traps and snares for us to make us trip and fall and thus prevent us from doing good and being charitable” (Letters of St. John of God).

I heard a story of a pastor and parochial vicar that could have made the Hatfields and McCoys blush. The two had a palpable antipathy for each other and were constantly vying for the admiration of their flock. They would talk badly about each other, exclude each other from parish events and undermine activities the other one had planned. Although these antics could be comical, in reality they were a scandalous lack of fraternal charity. The two men were both talented and could have been a dynamic duo of grace. However, they spent so much time at each other’s throats that they managed to divide the parish. Eventually they had to be transferred, and the parishioners were left to pick up the pieces. It could have been prevented, but jealousy ruled the day.

I have not attempted many repair jobs, and I know that my calling is to be a priest and not a general contractor. I am glad, though, that there are people who have those skills and can use those gifts for others. When we stop envying gifts we do not have and start appreciating the ones we do, then we can actually be Christ to one another — in the parish, in the office or, yes, even up on the roof. 

FATHER MICHAEL ACKERMAN is the pastor at Resurrection Parish, Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, and chaplain at Seton LaSalle Catholic High School in Pittsburgh.