6/2/2015 – Tuesday of the 9th week of Ordinary Time – Tobit 2:9-14

      Last week we had our first readings in the daily masses from the book of Sirach, one of those Deutero-Canonical books that is found in our Catholic Scriptures but not in the Hebrew Scriptures or the Protestant Bible.  Our first readings this week are from the book of Tobit, another one of those Deutero-Canonical book.  If you have not read Tobit in recent years or if you cannot recall the story, I advice you to read it all the way through.  It is a very enjoyable read and a very instructive tale from the Old Testament.

      Tobit had been a Jewish man who held a very high ranking in the Assyrian court, yet he got into trouble when it was found out that he was secretly burying Israelites who were being persecuted and killed by the Assyrian king. Tobit loses his eyesight in today’s reading, but the reader is left to speculate if this is due to a freak accident that happens by chance, or if Tobit was a good man being tested by God, similar to the circumstance of the book of Job.  When Tobit accuses his wife for falsely acquiring a goat for the work she had done, her wife expresses her thoughts: Where have your good deeds gotten you, Tobit?  How are you being rewarded for the good that you do? Sometimes we want to be rewarded or recognized for our good works, don’t we?  In our life decisions, we take risks and expose ourselves to dangers, which can lead to hardship and suffering.

      Recently, I read an article that named this date, June 2, as the date that the trial of Bridget Bishop began.  She was the first person accused during the Salem Witch Trials.  She was put to death on June 10, 1692.  From February 1692 to May 1693, 72 people were accused and tried in the Salem Witch Trials, with 20 put to death.  We know look at those witch trial as an example of mass hysteria that can happen in society.  We may condemn it, but we probably can all think of examples that happen in our own day. We can get caught up in our own piety, we can become judgmental of ourselves and others.  It is a fine line that we can cross.

       As we listen to the readings from the book of Tobit this week, let it help us reflect upon our own lives as followers of Christ, on the values we follow in our lives, and the ways in which we are called to boldly live out our faith.