Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
Today's Mass Readings
Throughout this 9th week of Ordinary Time, we have been reading from the book of Tobit. An excerpt from today’s passage is often read at weddings, which makes sense given that the story is of Tobiah finding his wife Sarah. Now, unlike your typical bride-to-be, Sarah has been given in marriage seven times, only to have each man killed by the demon Asmadeus. And yet, Tobiah is not afraid to marry Sarah. Why might this be? Surely part of the explanation for this is that Tobiah recognizes himself as being on a journey wherein he is led by God. He is accompanied on this journey by the angel Raphael and led to a kinsman, someone who shares his religious faith. We might be tempted to say that Tobiah has courage simply because of his “faith,” but we see that Tobiah’s faith is not some generic feel-good concept. Rather, Tobiah’s faith is something that requires commitment and is rooted in everyday practices and attitudes. Tobiah allows himself to be guided by an angel. He is open to adventures along his journey while remaining firm in his purpose. And he seeks out those who share his faith and looks for a wife who will share his fear of the Lord. Most important of all these practices is Tobiah’s commitment to prayer. His first task on his wedding night is to join with his wife in prayer.
We can see where Tobiah’s practices of faith are based on what Jesus, in today’s gospel passage from Mark, identifies as the first of all the commandments. Tobiah loves the Lord and loves his neighbor, and both of these loves lead him to prayer. The manner in which Tobiah approaches Sarah is indicative of this; Tobiah prays before God that he has not married Sarah out of lust but for a noble purpose – because he wants the best for her. He has looked for and found a companion on his journey of life.
We also are people on journeys. When we look back over our lives, we can often recognize God’s grace at work in us. We can see how God helped us in difficult situations or how those difficult situations helped us to become holier people. Knowing that we have been on a journey and will continue to be on a journey should give us courage. God has brought us to this place of commitment to love of God and love of neighbor, and he will not let us perish, but will bring us to eternal life. This is certainly blessed courage.
Like Tobiah, we must let our lives be led out of love for God and love for our neighbor. We must seek out companions on our journey that will help us to grow in holiness. We must ground our lives in prayer.
Today, let us take some time to think back over our lives. How do we see God’s grace working in this journey? How have we grown in love of God and love of neighbor despite various challenges? And finally, how might we continue to ground our lives more fully in prayer?
-Maria Morrow