evil eye - Turning to God's Word

In the Gospel According to Matthew, Jesus tells a parable about a master who pays laborers the same wage whether they worked for the entire day or only a few hours at the end. This generosity causes those who worked the entire day to complain, leading the master in the Gospel According Matthew 20:15 (NABRE) to say: “Are you envious because I am generous?” This question is not at all a literal translation. A more literal translation is something like “Is your eye wicked because I am good?”

Additionally, it’s not generosity in God that causes the problem but rather goodness. This is a subtle but interesting choice. In material matters, God cannot be generous. For someone with an infinite amount, small and large are the same. From God’s point of view, this is not at all about the money but rather about fitting treatment of those who labor for him, and this is why the complaints of those first workers are so inappropriate. In squabbling over a relatively small amount of money, they question the very nature and goodness of God. This is the corruption of greed or envy. Jesus’ point is that in being overly concerned with material things, we can easily lose sight of what matters more.

you also may like our two-part study of the psalms
Sing a New Psalm: Communicating with God Through the Prayers of the Church provides an in-depth look at all 150 psalms based on The Abbey Psalms and Canticles, a translation prepared by the Benedictine monks of Conception Abbey and endorsed by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). This translation is being included in new Liturgy of the Hours books. Volume I currently is available only in a digital format. Click on these links to view a sample first lesson from Volume I and another from Volume II.

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