8 June, Thursday — Tough Love

Thursday of Week 9 in Ordinary Time

Tob 6:10-11,7:1,9-14,8:4-9
Mk 12:28-34

“Be kind enough to have pity on her and me and bring us to old age together.”

Brothers and sisters, today, we look at what God’s Word says about the more difficult relationships in our lives. We’ve all got one or two of those, people we seem to sideline because they’re so hard to deal with. When Jesus says, “Love your neighbor as yourself”, I don’t think he meant the sweet couple across the street who helped to guide your transition into the neighborhood, or the group you met at a retreat who introduced you to everyone else at church. Nope! Jesus was referring to the mean old man who constantly complains about your dog. And the overly critical mother-in-law who finds fault with whatever you do. Or the ambitious colleague whose modus operandi for advancement is backstabbing. Jesus was referring to the people who are hard to love. Because it is precisely the grinches and the complainers who need to be loved, but can find no one to offer it to them.

The story of Tobiah and Sarah is a touching one. Despite her infirmity (we are not told what her ailment actually is, only that none of her husbands survived it), he took on the challenge of loving her, and yielded their relationship to God – “Be kind enough to have pity on her and me and bring us to old age together” (Tobit 8:9). Lasting relationships are a three-sided affair – they last because both are willing to sacrifice to make it work, and because God gives His blessing for it to endure. A marriage, a friendship, parent-child relations will not go the distance without the grace of God. We only know how strong those ties are when they’re tested. If we have not God to call upon then, how do we endure those periods of struggle? Go it alone? It doesn’t work.

When we examine the difficult relationships in our lives, how do we view them? With irritation most of the time, I’m guessing. Tobiah called on God for His mercy because he knew he wouldn’t be able to find the love on his own. Very often, the hurt we’ve endured for so many years hardens our hearts so that we can’t even think of these people without anger. It’s just human! But with God, forgiveness is always possible. We can move forward. When what you feel like doing is screaming at them, ask God for His mercy to help you get through it. Jesus found it within himself to forgive while nailed to the cross. Maybe we can find a way to do the same while we bear our crosses.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Sharon Soo)

Prayer: We pray for God to change our hearts from hate and anger, into love and forgiveness.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks for the loving and supportive people He puts in our lives, that help to make the thorny individuals more bearable.