INNER CRAVINGS THAT GET US IN TROUBLE.

Reflection for the 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B

Today, we listened to the fourth of five excerpts from St. James’s Epistle. A part of this fourth excerpt deals with “inner craving” that can get us in trouble and make life difficult for us.

Jealously

James says “where jealously and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every foul practice.”

Jealously is an insidious feeling that can wreak havoc on our relationships and steal our joy. I know that jealously has destroyed many marriages and seriously hurt many more. I am sure that those of you who are married would agree that it is most difficult to deal with a jealous spouse.

Unfortunately, I do not have a lot of wisdom to offer on this particular feeling. I have, over the years, read articles and books on most feelings: sadness, joy, fear/anxiety, shame etc. But, I don’t remember ever coming across a good article on jealously. What causes it and what can help to free us of it. If you have read a good article on this topic, I would appreciate it if you would share it. But I can say a couple of things about jealously:

  • Feelings are neither right nor wrong. They just exist. It is never a sin to feel hate, jealously, shame or envy etc. Feelings only take on a moral dimension when they move us to engage in immoral behavior. Therefore, it is not wrong to feel jealous. But it is wrong if our feelings of jealously lead us to engage in destructive behavior that damages another or damages relationships.

  • I believe that it is generally accepted that the root cause of jealously is low self-esteem and insecurity. It would seem that if we were truly in touch with our own goodness and giftedness, we would not need to be jealous of another or of his/her qualities. In fact, true self-esteem would allow us to celebrate and not be jealous of the successes of another.

    True and False Ambition

    James also mentions false ambition in his reading today. There is nothing wrong with being ambitious as long as it is kept in check and not allowed to become a god in our lives. All of us should be ambitious to be the best person we can be. God would love that. We should want to develop our gifts and talents and succeed in our area of work. But, ambition is not good when it becomes a god in our lives, when it hurts our relationships with our family and causes us to neglect other responsibilities.

    In today’s Gospel, we have an example of false ambition. Some of Jesus’ inner circle are arguing about who is going to be most important in his new kingdom. Jesus goes on to say that the really important people in his kingdom will be those with a servant’s heart. True leadership is not about lording it over others, but rather about seeking to serve others. The ambition that moves us to make ourselves the center of attention and to promote our self interests is false ambition at least in the eyes of Jesus. Gospel ambition moves us to make Jesus first in our lives and moves us to devote ourselves to furthering the interests of our communities. In his book The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren says the following about true servants of the Lord.

  • True servants make themselves available to serve.

  • True servants do the best with what they have. They don’t keep bemoaning how they are not as talented as others. Neither do they keep saying: “one of these days I will do such and such.” Rather, the one with a servant’s heart pitches in and uses the imperfect gifts he has to serve his community.

  • True servants are faithful to their ministry. They finish their tasks, fulfill their responsibilities, keep their promises, and complete their commitments. They don’t leave a job half undone, and they don’t quit when they get discouraged. They are trustworthy and dependable.

  • True servants maintain a low profile. True servants of the Lord do not promote or call attention to themselves. Instead of acting to impress and dressing for success, they “put on the apron of humility, to serve one another.” If recognized for their service, they humbly accept it but don’t allow notoriety to distract them from their work. Self-promotion and servanthood don’t mix. Real servants don’t serve for the approval or applause of others. They live for an audience of One. As Paul said, “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

  • True servants think of ministry as an opportunity, not an obligation. They enjoy helping people, meeting needs and doing ministry. They “serve the LORD with gladness.” Why do they serve with gladness? Because they love the Lord, they’re grateful for his grace, they know serving is the highest form of life, and they know God has promised a reward.

    I am glad to say that we at Ascension have many humble servants of the Lord. Week after week, they go about their service not seeking attention. They are simply glad to have the opportunity to serve God and to be of help to their parish family. We are indeed blessed to have so many true servants of the Lord.