LII. De peccato invidiae.

LII. De peccato invidiae.

The envious do not love the good they see in others, nor do they acknowledge it; instead, they boast about their own achievements as if they are succeeding on straight and clear paths. Therefore, God allows them to fall, because they refuse to stand firm, just like the Jews who would not accept what they knew, rejected what they saw, abandoned the right paths, and walked unjustly, trying to suppress the one whom they were meant to raise for their redemption, so that he would not rise again. For they saw the light of truth shining, yet they rushed to extinguish it; they felt the wonders of God, but they sought to destroy them through their wicked envy. Therefore, I destroyed them and scattered them like dust, because they did not believe what they saw; for they will fall under a just judgment before God and men, who despise imitating the good and holy things they see and know. Envy is likened to the devil. For envy does nothing good, but instead, it brings down the one who seems to stand firm by harming him. Therefore, when someone joins hatred to themselves, it stirs up all the powers of the soul. For a person who harbors hatred in the darkness of envy lacks the warmth of the Holy Spirit, in whom there is joy and endless days of happiness. But this joy has no place for hatred, because it doesn't rejoice in the good of others; rather, it gnaws at it with fierce hatred. Therefore, it resembles the Devil, who began to harbor hatred at his very origin, and from that hatred lost all the beauty of heaven, because he attempted to resist God through envy and hatred. Those who desire to serve God should be ashamed of their actions and cast away these evils from themselves, so that they do not cloud the mirror of their souls. These things have been said about the souls of the repentant, to be purified and saved, and they are faithful, and let the faithful pay attention to these, and let them be composed in the memory of good knowledge. But I also saw other spirits of the same multitude, who were shouting loudly: "We will not invoke another God besides Him who is Lucifer, for we will have glorious greatness with Him." And these people show others the emptiness of glory, and they urge them to strive for it.