Fr. Paul D. Scalia: Grrrrrr!

Gr-r-r–there go, my heart’s abhorrence!
Water your damned flower-pots, do!
If hate killed men, Brother Lawrence,
God’s blood, would not mine kill you!

Thus begins Robert Browning’s Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, a hilarious glimpse into the thoughts of a monk beset by envy. The best part of these first words isn’t a word at all but a sound: Gr-r-r. That gets quickly to the nature of envy. It prompts its victims to look at perceived competitors and growl inhumanly. Grrrrrr. . .

Are you envious because I am generous? The landowner’s question at the end of today’s parable addresses the vice of envy.  The parable itself makes us squirm because we are inclined to agree with the villains of the story, with those who worked the full day but get paid only as much as those who worked a small part. Of course, the parable is not meant to be a lesson on social justice or fair labor practices. It’s an absurd story that highlights God’s generosity; that he admits to heaven even those who arrive at the last minute; that Divine Mercy is beyond the calculations of human justice. …