February 17.   “What is really behind the story of Cain and Abel? I’ve always found it confusing,” Frank said.  “Was Cain’s sacrifice to God not good enough and therefore rejected?”   “Was his sin jealousy of his brother whose sacrifice was accepted?”   “Is the message, that we have to be aware of our negative traits, like jealousy, and work to overcome them?”   Apart from family violence, family murders do come up in the news  and there too one wonders what it is that drives a father, or a mother to kill those they are meant to love and where their love has turned sour?” 

Reflect, share. Scripture The Lord said to Cain, “why are you angry? If you do well will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door, its desire is for you but you must master it.   Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Genesis 4:1-15.  Pope Francis.  Envy is a form of sadness provoked by another’s prosperity; it shows that we are not concerned for the happiness of others but only with our own well-being.  Love makes us rise above ourselves, envy closes us in on ourselves.  AL 95.  JUBILEE OF HOPE. Happiness is our human vocation, a goal to which all  aspire.  We aspire to a happiness that is definitively found in the one thing that can bring us fulfilment, which is love. Thus, we will be able to say even now: I am loved, therefore I exist; and I will live forever in the love that does not disappoint, the love from which nothing can ever separate me. SNC 21. Prayer and action.    Pray for wisdom to avoid the sin of envy.  Choose appropriate action.