Friends, welcome to Word on Fire Catholic Ministries. Word on Fire is an

apostolate dedicated to the mission of evangelization using media both old and

new to share the faith on every continent and to facilitate an encounter with

Christ and His Church. The efforts of Word on Fire engage the culture and bring

the transformative power of God's Word where it is most needed. Today we invite

you to join Bishop Robert Barron as he preaches the gospel and shares the

warmth and light of Christ with each one of us. Peace be with you. Friends, how

prominent a role jealousy plays in the great literature of the world. I think

for example of Shakespeare's Iago. Think of Melville's great story Billy Bud which

focuses on the effects of envy. Think in the Bible the story of Joseph and his

brothers. I'm not sure that narrative is driven by envy or the story of Saul

and David and for Samuel. Saul's jealousy of David drives the narrative. How

often envy jealousy is just a powerful dynamic in human relations. Well what

is it? What is jealousy? My hero Thomas Aquinas with typical pith defines envy

this way an irrational anger at the success of others. That's good isn't it. I

say typically Aquinas there very to the point. Envy is an irrational anger at

the success of others. This calls to my mind a Gore Vidal the American

novelist. I think great characterization of envy. He said when a friend of mine

succeeds something in me dies. Now mind you the salty of that the honesty of it

when a friend of mine succeeds. So it's an enemy of mine or some I don't even

know and when they succeed I don't care but when a friend succeeds something in

me dies an irrational anger at the success of others. Remember the divine

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