Many products are sold by encouraging us to feel envy for what others own or how they look. Many advertisers believe that once we feel envious, we will be willing to buy, borrow, or fake our way to having what others have. Starting a new school year is a time when many around us seem to have new things, new friends, or new looks. Envy can enter our hearts when we compare ourselves to other people, and can lead to feelings of jealousy, inferiority, or even emptiness.

To truly love, we must guard our hearts against envy; it always ends in loneliness and unhappiness. Envy, not love, makes us compete against others and strive after material things or fake personalities. It separates us from God and from other people. St. Thomas Aquinas described envy as “sorrow at another’s good.” As the school year begins, we want feelings of freedom and joy, not jealousy and sorrow. Envy pulls us away from others and God, but kindness pulls us closer.
 

by Patricia Lyons from d365.org