We are all familiar with the seven deadly sins: pride, gluttony, lust, anger, greed, sloth, and envy.  Most of us struggle with these sins, in one form or another, throughout our entire lives.  Lust, anger, gluttony and pride seem to be the ones that give us the most difficulty.  But I would submit that the most insidious sin of the seven deadly sins is that of envy.  Let me explain.  I like to watch the British murder drama:  Midsummer Murders.  Perhaps you’ve seen it? And although all of the cardinal sins make their appearances-in one form or another – in almost every episode, it always seems that the sin motivating the murderer, in the end, is the sin of envy.

Today we see much unrest in our society, and although some might claim that it has more to do with the sins of anger or pride, I think it’s the sin of envy that’s driving most of this.  We’re told that the sin of capitalism is greed, but did you know that the sin of socialism is envy? It seems that a lot of people are deeply motivated and manipulated by the sin of envy.  Even Jesus mentions this at the end of our gospel this weekend.  To those workers who are grumbling and complaining, and thinking that somehow, they are being cheated, Our Lord says to them:  “Are you envious because I am generous?” Let us remember that the Lord invites us to work in His vineyard and He is more than generous to all of us.  And we will clearly see His generosity, if we are not blinded by the sin of envy.