Blocked from Rejoicing with Others

In the first reading of today’s liturgy, Tobit 2: 9-14, Tobit becomes very angry when his wife, Anna, brings home a goat. He angrily says to her: “From where did you get this goat? It is probably stolen and, in no way, are we going to eat meat of a stolen animal.”  He does not even wait for his wife’s explanation and when he hears it, he does not believe her.  Sound like you and me when we vehemently object to something we think is untrue? What prompts us before, and even after, hearing the truth to angrily charge another of inappropriate behavior, of, in fact from our retorts, lying to us?  When we take that stance, it is certainly not out of humility! What stops Tobit from appreciating the fact that his wife was given that goat as a bonus for her work? Why was he not rejoicing with her, believing her story? What stops you and me when we adamantly confront a child, our spouse/fellow religious, a friend even before the person tells us what happened? And once we start ranting and raving that what the person is telling us is untrue, our objections escalate! And what effect does our behavior have on the person who comes home excited about the good news he/she is about to share with us?  Envy and jealousy, wanting to be better than the other person, projecting our anger about something else going on within us on those close to us, even onto God, is not uncommon .  We need to take stock of our behavior at the close of every day, asking the Lord to show us the truth within us, to give us the grace to claim that truth and, if like Tobit, we have offended others by our arrogance, envy, pride, jealousy, ask pardon of that person, of God, and of ourselves.

In today's Gospel, Mark 12: 13-17, we also see envy and jealousy at work in the Pharisees and Herodians sent to confront Jesus. When, we need to ask ourselves, are we trying to ensnare others as these men were? When are our statements fueled by our low self-esteem, jealousy, envy, pride and anger? When are we projecting our problems on to others in this way?