We have been hearing readings from the book of Tobit this week. Today, we hear a very long reading from Tobit In answer to the prayers of Tobit and Sarah, God sends the Angel Raphael to answer their prayers as a special messenger. The Angel tells Tobit’s son Tobiah to go to the house of Raguel to arrange a marriage with his daughter Sarah. In our modern way of thinking, we might be put off by the way Tobiah and Raguel arrange this marriage. Tobias seems unafraid and very trusting in the Lord, even when he hears that seven other men have married Sarah and did not live past their wedding night.
What should touch our hearts, however, is the prayer that Tobiah and Sarah offer God in order to bless their marriage. They acknowledge that their marriage not only fulfills their love for each other and their desire to be husband and wife, but that their marriage comes from God, that their marriage is instituted by God. In their prayer, Tobiah and Sarah pray to God, saying: “It is you who created Adam, you who created Eve his wife, to be his help and support. It was you who said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone.’” Because they know in their hearts that their marriage comes from God, Sarah and Tobiah pray confidently to God, asking for his help in their marriage. This wedding prayer from the book of Tobit is commonly chosen as the first reading in the Mass for Catholic weddings, with many brides and grooms identifying with the wishes that Tobiah and Sarah offer up to God on their wedding night.
This prayer that we hear from Tobit today reminds us of the call to holiness that all of us have in life, of the way we are to pledge our lives to God in the vocation we choose. May this be our wish.
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