1 John 5:14-21 / John 3:22-30
The question of the origins of pride and envy is like the chicken and egg question. We are not sure which come first but what we know is that one leads to the other.
And what we are sure of is that we are afflicted by these two capital sins.
Our consolation is that it is not just we who are afflicted by it but so too were the apostles of Jesus.
They were envious of one another and they quarrelled about who was the first.
But John the Baptist was different. If he were ambitious, seeking recognition or power, he would have resented it when Jesus started becoming more popular than he was.
He had made a name for himself as "the Baptist". Yet, today's gospel also mentioned about Jesus baptizing.
But John did not feel threatened or envious of Jesus. In fact, he even said that "this joy I feel is now complete". He even encouraged his disciples to follow Jesus by pointing Him out as the Lamb of God.
Finally, he makes his exit with his most gracious and profound spiritual statement: He must increase, and I must decrease.
So it must be for us. One way to know how we are handling our pride and envy is our response to other people's success and accomplishments.
Our response or reaction speaks volumes about the spiritual state of our hearts.
Today, John the Baptist reminds us that our mission is to make Christ known and loved, not ourselves.
The 1st reading warned us to be on guard against false gods, and that is what pride and envy are.
Let us pray that our pride and envy will become smaller, and our love for God and others become greater.