Monday of Eighth Week in Ordinary Time, June 4,2007

Scripture: Tobit 1:1-3,17; 2:1-8. Psalm 112. Mark 12:1-12. Lectionary #
353:

Lately, as I age, I find the deutercanonical books of our Catholic Bible
quite helpful. They are mostly Wisdom type writings with plenty of
story-like colorful characters. We turn from Sirach to Tobit today and here
we have one of the most delightful of biblical stories featuring a family
and a righteous wisdom figure named Tobit--not to be confused with his son
Tobias. Raphael the archangel is featured in this drama. His name will be
lived up to for it means God's Healer or Healing. Tobit was probably
originally written in Aramaic and used for teaching people how to be good
followers of God by living out the commandments and the corporal works of
mercy (Catholic nomenclature). He did this in a remarkable way with many
amusing incidents. Read the whole book and you will discover this for
yourself. The writing is found also at Qumran in some fragments. The
little work was probably written around 200 B.C. The point of view of the
book is righteous suffering and behavior which ends in the restoration of
happiness. Tobit is not a historical book. It is theological and ethical,
with the aim of showing the importance of faith in God during troubling
times and circumstances. Tobit like Job will live out his life faithfully
and through putting his faith into acts--random acts of loving kindness,
concern, and care. The Psalm response captures his spirit," Blessed, happy
are those who fear the Lord...who greatly delight in God's commandments."
(Psalm 112: 1). Joy and inward peace are the experience of those who do
this and live according to a well informed conscience. This is the best
remedy for fear, anxiety, scruples, and nervousness. As we turn to
chapter 12 of Mark, we see Jesus using parables in order to challenge the
thought patterns and stubborness of the religious minded of his time. They
cannot accept his teaching but they do get the point of his parables
sometimes better than today's scholars! Instead of following the
commandment "Thou shalt not kill" --the most fundamental of all
commandments, they plot together how they might get Jesus killed. Probably
the lessons from Tobit would not mean much to them either. Today we are
aware of so many violent people and terrorists that perpetrate the murder
of innocent men, women, and children without ever thinking about "Thou
shalt not kill!" We pray for our own growth in fidelity to the primary
rules of the commandments and strive to imitate Tobit in the doing of good
works for the poor and needy. Tobit lived out the corporal and spiritual
works of mercy to the enth degree. Amen.