Word to the Wise
Monday, February 18, 2019 - Monday in the 6th Week in Ordinary Time
[Gen 4:1-15, 25 and Mark 8:11-13]Then the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" He answered, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?" [Genesis]
FEBRUARY 18, [Bl. John of Fiesole OP, a/k/a Fra Angelico]
The Book of Genesis now offers us an example of the consequences of human desires and choices, and it is a familiar one - Cain and Abel! Who among us has not felt that God favored someone else more than us? And because we can't get at God in the same way, we get at the person we believe God has favored. It is no small wonder that later generations put ENVY on the list of capital sins! Perhaps lurking in the background is the classic tension between nomadic herdsmen and settled farmers? In any case, the sin of fratricide goes to the depths of human psychology! On a more superficial level, the story gives us all a lesson in how dangerous envy can be.
Parents know this well. A child will ask, "Do you love my brother/sister more than me?" Mom or Dad can reply, "I love all my children equally!" But the child will say, "Well, why did you do such and such for him/her, and not for me?" When we find ourselves thinking this way, natural as it might be, we need to be very cautious, especially if it is a matter of divine favor! Abel's blood cries out to all of us! Yes, we are our brother's and sister's keepers! AMEN