Insecure attachment to God, resulting in fragile faith in Him, tends to result in jealousy and greed. These two psychologically pathological factors are addressed in the Scripture readings of the 26th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle B (Numbers 11:25-29; Psalm 19:8, 9b,10, 12–14; James 5:1-6; Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-8).
Jealousy is addressed in the First Reading (Numbers
11:25-29) and the Gospel Reading (Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-8), while problem of
greed is addressed in the Second Reading (James 5:1-6). And we find remedy to
these problems in Responsorial Psalm (19:8, 9b,10, 12–14), reminding that it is
God’s Law that gives joy to those who are faithful to Him. This means that
those who fall to the vices of jealousy and greed do not revere God and
appreciate what He gives, represented with His Law, in this context. In other
words, those who truly appreciate what God provides are psychologically secure,
thus, being satisfied with God’s providence (Psalm 23:1-6). As sheep fully
trust in their shepherd, we have steadfast faith in Christ, who is our Good Shepherd
(John 10:11,14). And if this is truly the case with us, then, we have no reason
to complain because we are not jealous of what others have and be greedy. S we
are content and joyful (Philippians 4:10-13).
In the First Reading (Numbers 11:25-19), we see Joshua
complaining to Moses about two elders, Eldad and Medad, to forbid them from
prophesizing, because God also gave them the spirit transpired from Moses, even
though they did not come out of the tent, while the rest of the elders who
received the spirit, were outside the camp, as called by Moses. It was like Joshua
sayin. g, “Moses, my lord, it’s not fair that Eldad and the other Medad also
received your spirit and began prophesizing!” In response, however, Moses
admonished Joshua for making such a complaint, sensing that it came out of
Joshua’s jealousy. So, Moses said to Joshua:
Are you jealous for my sake? If only all
the people of the Lord were prophets! If only the Lord would bestow his spirit
on them! (Numbers 11:29).
Ironically, this complaint of Joshua was projected to
what God did in response to Moses’ complaint to God about the burden of
shepherding constantly complaining Israelites (Numbers 11:11-15). After leaving
Sinai, the Israelites complained again (Number 11:1-10), as they did before (Exodus
15:22-27;16:1-7, 11-12; 17:1-7; 32:1). And
their complaints really wore Moses down, and he cried out to God.
In response to Moses’ complaint, God instructed him to
gather seventy elders to the camp and promised him to put some of his spirit on
them (Numbers 11:16-23). So, Moses brought seventy elders around the tent
(Numbers 11:24). Then, God came down in the cloud and spoke to them, and putting
the spirit from Moses on them, and they temporarily prophesized (Numbers
11:25).
This transfer of some of the spirit from Moses to the
seventy elders took place outside the camp. While this was happening, Eldad and
Medad, remained inside the camp. But they also actually received the spirit and
began prophesizing. (Numbers 11:26). And obviously, out of jealousy, as Moses put
it, Joshua thought it was not fair and complained to Moses (Numbers 11:27-28).
Joshua was very faithful to God and Moses. Yet, his imperfection
manifested in complaining about what he thought as unfair that Eldad and Medad
received the spirit and prophesized, thought they did not come out the camp as
the rest of the elders did to receive the spirit from Moses by God.
In the Gospel Reading (Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-8), we see
John complaining to Jesus about a person exercising in his name, though this
person was not one of the disciples and did not stop when they tried (v. 38).
This is like Joshua’s complaint about Eldad and Medad (Numbers 11:27-28). So it
is likely out of jealousy. And Jesus’ response to John’s complaint (Mark 9:39-41)
is similar to Moses’ response to Joshua (Numbers 11:29). So Jesus said to John:
Do not prevent him. There is no one who
performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For
whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a
cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will
surely not lose his reward (Mark 9:39-41).
This was a moment of John’s learning curve about
ministering in Jesus’ name. Through these words, Jesus taught that anyone (v.
41) who does what he commands is considered to be his disciples, even though they
are not among the twelve disciples. If they see persons, to whom they perm
mighty deeds in Jesus’ name, belong to Christ, then, they are rather considered
to be the twelve disciples’ coworkers in Jesus’ pastoral work, not as opponents
or competitors, to be stopped or eliminated.
But Jesus also described who are to be condemned, and
these are those who cause people who belong to him to sin (Mark 9:42-43, 45,
47-48).
In Mark 9, verses 44 and 46 are not found. A likely
reason for this is that these verses were removed because they were not found
in the original Greek text but added by scribes.
Like Joshua and John, we also complain out of
jealousy. In fact, we complain when our pursuit of desire is disrupted,
frustrated for not having what we want. Then, when we find it in others, we
become jealous of them. Psychologically, we are more likely to complain out of
jealousy if we are internally insecure (Bowlby, 1982)*. Internal insecurity
also contributes to greed (Chen, 2018)**, against which Jesus speaks in the
Second Reading (James 5:1-6).
We may not be aware of covert jealousy when we
complain.
Both jealousy and envy are emotions of discontentment.
Compared to envy, jealousy tends to manifest with hostility. Primary emotion behind
the plot to have Jesus killed was religious leaders’ envy (i.e. Matthew 27:18),
manifested in hostile jealousy to set up false witnesses (e.g. Matthew
26:59-63) and conspire the Roman authority to kill him (i.e. John 18:28-40).
Envy festers into jealousy and resentment.
To prevent this problem, we must be securely attached
to God (John 15:4) so that we are always content and joyful as reflected in the
Responsorial Psalm ( 19:8, 9b,10, 12–14) and Psalm 23.
*Bowlby J. (1982). Attachment and loss: retrospect and
prospect. Am. J. Orthopsychiatry 52, 664–678. doi:
10.1111/j.1939-0025.1982.tb01456.x
**Chen, B. (2018). An evolutionary life history
approach to understanding greed. Personality and Individual Differences, 127,
74-78. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.02.006
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