Let it hurt

 From the Gospel of Saturday of the 9th Week in Ordinary Time (Mark 12:38–44).

And Jesus called his disciples to him and said to them, "Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. For they all contributed out of their abundance; but she, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, her whole living" (Mk 12:43–44).

Talking about love, I once shared how understanding that it is the Lord who is demanding those things from me through other people helped to liberate me from the darkness and pain that often come with loving difficult people.

True love is not easy, and often what the Lord is demanding from us is not what we would ordinarily like to do. Most often, He is asking us to call that person personally rather than write that comment in the group. Maybe He wants me to stay and listen to my wife talk rather than focus on writing that great book. Often, writing that great book, making that big donation in church, or going to visit the orphanage can make me feel that I have done something good, or bring some recognition and praise. Even if not, I am still doing something in my own territory, where I am rich; therefore, it costs me little or nothing.

But the Lord often has another request, one that implies going outside my area of richness and remaining in that place where I feel as though I am losing everything. The One who sees the cost of our gifts exclaimed: "She, out of her poverty, has put in everything she had, her whole living" (Mk 12:44)!

The same Lord who warned us to beware of the hypocrisy of the scribes, "who devour widows' houses and for a pretence make long prayers," praised a widow for pouring her whole life into the same temple managed by her oppressors!

Before you get angry with me and begin to say that I am promoting abuse, remember that He who sees all that is done in secret also said that they—the scribes who abused these widows—would receive a severe sentence. It takes faith to trust God and to do what He asks of us.

David, when he was being persecuted by Saul, comes to mind. Saul was doing everything possible to eliminate David, yet David gave Saul what the Lord demanded from him through Saul: forgiveness, mercy, love, and life. "I cannot touch the Lord's anointed," he said.

When his men came up with the suggestion:

"Here is the day of which the LORD said to you, 'Behold, I will give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it shall seem good to you'" (1 Sam 24:4),

David responded:

"The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my lord, the LORD's anointed, to put forth my hand against him, seeing he is the LORD's anointed" (1 Sam 24:6).

We too were anointed at baptism, before you think that I am referring only to pastors or people in authority.

The Lord who sees all that is done in secret has something He is demanding from us at every moment. That demand remains the same for all of us: love.

But loving can mean many things.

It could be, as Paul instructed Timothy in today's First Reading:

"Proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, give encouragement—but do all with patience and with care to instruct" (2 Tim 4:2).

It could be watching over those feelings of failure or envy, as God instructed Cain before he killed his brother:

"The LORD said to Cain, 'Why are you angry, and why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; its desire is for you, but you must master it'" (Gen 4:6–7).

David, after his encounter with Nathan, understood the real gift when he proclaimed:

"For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased. The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise" (Ps 51:16–17).

Whether it is forgiveness, patience, self-mastery, proclaiming the truth, or a contrite heart, the Lord continually invites us to offer Him not what is easiest for us to give, but what love requires of us at that moment.

The invitation is for us to look within and ask ourselves: What is that offering that the Lord is demanding from me?

Ifeanyichukwu
Saturday, 6 June 2026

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