Is there anyone in our lives that we envy? Maybe he or she is richer than us? Maybe he or she is more confident and seems to have all the luck in the world? Maybe he or she is much better looking than us? Maybe he or she has more friends than us? Maybe he or she has something that we want? Simply put, when we envy others, we count their blessings and not ours. When we admit that they are seemingly better off than us, we try to put them down. In other words, “If I am miserable, I want that person to be miserable too.”

In the Gospel, all that Jesus did was to do good, heal people, and perform miracles to show that with God nothing is impossible. He reached out to the sinners and He preached that the Kingdom of God is at hand. What did the Pharisees and the Scribes do? Put him down. What was the biggest loss? They did not see God in their midst.

My dear friends, three things we remember before envy gets the best of us:

1. We all have our own set of blessings! Yes, people are blessed differently because each person’s life is unique and special. Hence, the focus should be on our own blessings and not that of others. There is no need to be someone else when God has a specific plan for each one of us.
   
2. Happiness is an Inside Job. True happiness is not based on what is seen. We may be the happiest person on Facebook, but how happy are we in real life. Remember that what really matters in this life are the things that cannot be counted – love, hope, generosity, peace, kindness, and trust in God.
   
3. People need People. Indeed we have something to share and we have something to receive from people. No one has the monopoly of all the blessings, but when we become envious, we disconnect ourselves from people. Eventually, isolation and loneliness sink in.

In every Mass, we must remember the words of St. Augustine:  God loves us as if there was only one of us. Hence, if we are loved there is no reason to hate or be envious.