Admonition VIII: Avoiding the sin of envy
It can come as a shock to realize just how sensitive Francis was to the words of Scripture. There are two short sentences in St Paul that Francis used to great effect. Paul said that unless the Holy Spirit is active within us we are not able even to say Jesus is Lord. He also says that of ourselves we are not able to do good because without the grace of God we can do nothing. Apart from me you can do nothing [Jn 15:5]. Francis applied these two statements of Paul to his reflection on envy. When we envy the good done or said by others we have to remember that they speak and act by the power of the Spirit within them. So to envy them is really to envy what the Spirit is doing. To envy what the Spirit does in others is to envy the Spirit. So Francis did not hesitate to say that this is a sin of blasphemy against the Most High God. Perhaps behind this Admonition there is an echo of Francis's meeting with the leper, the event that prompted his conversion. When Francis met the leper he realized in a moment of grace that in meeting the leper he was meeting Christ. This is true of everyone because the grace of God and the Spirit of God are active in everyone. To envy this then is to envy what God is doing in a person. But at the basis of envy is the thought that what another person has is more than we have. When then we envy what God is doing in others, we are really saying that God is not doing the same in us. This is dangerous and untrue because Our Lord died not for others but for me and for all. The same Lord is active in all of us and loves us.
