It is God Himself Who, in many places, tells us He is jealous. "I have been jealous for Sion with a great jealousy
and with a great indignation have I been jealous of her." This statement, from the eighth chapter of Zacharias, is repeated in several other passages; indeed the very first commandment proclaimed on Sinai gives expression to the jealousy of God. "I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before Me." "I, the Lord," writes Isaias, "this in My Name. I will not give My glory to another."
This is a jealousy of souls, whom God has created and redeemed, who are loved by Him and destined to give Him glory here and hereafter. "Behold, all souls are Mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is Mine; the soul that sinneth, the same shall die" (Ezech. 18:4) "Whoever touches such a soul touches "the apple of His eye."
Jealousy, then, it would seem, is not always evil. There is, in the jealousy of God, as in human jealousy, a determination to have exclusive possession which resents an intruder. If an artist spends whole weeks and months painting a picture, he will handle it himself only with the greatest care, and he will permit another to touch it only after repeated warnings. If a lady pays much for a new coat, she will not throw it anyhow when she takes it off; it is very valuable and she prizes it. Spouses who discover that their partner is unfaithful will rightly show anger and leave nothing undone to bring to justice the person who has dared to alienate affections to which they have exclusive rights.
St. Paul writes along these lines to the Corinthians. He reminds them that he has espoused them "as a chaste virgin, to Christ." And he is jealous of them "with the jealousy of God," fearful lest another preacher might come and seduce them, telling them of "another Christ Whom we have not preached," urging them to receive "another gospel" different from what he had delivered to them. He will have no division of doctrine and no sharing of loyalty. God is jealous of them; He will not permit a rapine in the holocaust. He claims all for Himself, all their love, all their allegiance.
My soul is the object of this divine jealousy. In God's eyes that soul of mine transcends in value all created material things much more than a Raphael or a Botticelli exceeds the crude drawings of a street artist. "What doth it profit a man," He asks, "if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" That is always Our Lord's point of view. He went in and out amongst men and found them immersed in cares about moneymaking and farming and throwing off the yoke of a despot. All these things were important, of course, but they were the merest trivialities when weighed in the balance against the eternal salvation of the immortal soul. In His love for the soul, He sent apostles throughout the world to broadcast it; He went Himself to Calvary and paid for my soul a price "greater than which no man can give"; for my soul He laid down His life.
Hence His claims on the soul's love and loyalty are absolute. No wonder He is jealous if the soul, thus loved by God, thus redeemed by the Precious Blood, thus destined to a glory it cannot conceive, degrades itself by setting up false gods and adoring them.
True zeal, according to Saint Francis de Sales, shows itself in three ways - an absolute abhorrence for all opposed to God and a determination to overthrow it if possible; an ardent jealousy of souls, and their purity, as being spouses of Christ; a holy fear lest we belong not entirely to Jesus.
Jesus, I am bought with a great price. My soul is the object of a divine jealousy. How tolerant I have been of the presence of intruders, how easily I have condoned sin in myself and grown indifferent to its prevalence in the souls of others! I would be jealous like You, like Your saints; teach me how, as You taught them.