July 27, 2013 – Catechism 2534 – 2540

“Our thirst for goods is immense, infinite, never quenched”.

Envy is the sin that seems to be the one that is pointed to here as the thing to avoid.  Through envy, death entered the world.  That is what Satan planted in Eve and Adam.  That is what David had when he went after Bathsheba.  And what prods envy, pride.

I was reading these paragraphs and what I found interesting is that it doesn’t say desiring your neighbors things is not bad.  Wanting things is fine, but desiring them at the cost of someone else is where it becomes sinful.  Wanting too much or what we don’t need is sinful.  Wanting what someone else has, even though we have our own simply because someone else has it.  Like with most things, the actual desire is not what is sinful, but the acting on it.  We are human and this envious desire in us is one of our worst cruxes.  It is inherent and dangerous and will always be there, but we must battle against it be being generous and humble.  SOOO much easier said than done.