Thursday, 9th week in ordinary time, June 7, 2007

Scripture: Tobit 6:10-17; 7:1,9-17; 8:4-9. Psalm 128. Mark 12:28-34.
Lectionary # 356:

Would it not be nice to hear from Jesus that you are not far from the
Kingdom of God? Well, the scribe in today's selection hears that from
Jesus. I thought of the recent writing of Benedict XVI on Jesus where he
says that Jesus is the Kingdom of God. The scribe was both physically
close to Jesus and more importantly he was living out the commandment of
love which spells out both sides of the tablets--love of God, love of
neighbor. The commandments of love are not legal precepts, rather they are
the gifts of God that we are to unwrap each day as we face God in prayer
and thought and our neighbor in words, deeds, and work. We are led to
thank God for the gifts of loving both God and neighbor; then we too are
not far from the Kingdom of God. We pray each day, Thy Kingdom come, thy
will be done which helps us to remember the gifts of love through the seven
petitions of the Lord's prayer which are also about the Kingdom of God.
Our first reading is all about marital love and the great gift it is for
those who enter it with the gift of God's love as well as the fullness of
human love. Husband and wife are God's gift of love to each other. Tobias
followed the Torah's commandments very closely and undoubtedly this was due
to his father Tobit and his mother Anna who were wholesome and righteous
people. We have the lengthy and beautiful account of Tobias preparation to
ask for the daughter of Raguel named Sarah. Though she had lost seven
husbands, Tobias trusts in the fidelity of God and fulfills his right to
ask for her in marriage. They pray together and with the putting of such
trust in God's hands, the marriage is successful and life-giving. Tobias
does not die! Thus this very creative melodrama in the book of Tobit has a
profound lesson for those entering marriage. We are able to think about
the traditions and rituals of the times in which Tobias lived and of the
story of the woman who was healed and became his wife. This all could have
been the way righteous people looked at marriage in those days some 2200
years ago. We pray today for those entering into the marriage covenant and
how they need to have the prayerful dispositions and trust in God that they
will be able to love each other for the rest of their lives. Tobit is a
charming book that is a gift for those who read it. It is not dull. In the
Vulgate translation there is this beautiful prayer that was used in Nuptial
Blessings in the Catholic Church: "Benedicat te Deus Israel. quia filius
es optime viri et iusti, et timentis Deum, et eleemosynas facientis: et
dicatur benedictio super uxorem tuam, et super parentes vestros: et
videatis filios vestros, et filios filiorum vestrorum, usque in tertiam et
quartam generationem: et sit semen vestrum benedictum a Deo Israel, qui
regnat in saecula saeculorum. Cumque omnes dixissent, Amen, accesserunt ad
convivium: sed et cum timore Domini nuptiarum convivium exercebant." (The
God of Israel bless thee, because thou art the son of a very good and just
man, that feareth God, and doth almsdeeds. And may a blessing come upon
thy wife and upon thy parents. And may you see your children's children
unto the third and fourth generation. And may your seed be blessed by the
God of Israel, who reigneth forver and ever. And when all had said, Amen,
they went to the feast: but the marriage feast they celebrated also with
the fear of the Lord.). Amen.