Today, we hear Tobit offer a prayer to the Lord. Tobit does not offer a prayer out of his joy, but rather out of his sufferings and his grief. He acknowledges the sinfulness of all human beings, how we human beings often have not been loyal to God and his commandments. Tobit asks the Lord to deal with him as he pleases, but asks that he be allowed to die and be put out his misery. Tobit would rather die than endure this suffering in his life. Perhaps some of us, when we look back at moments of despair and desperation in our lives, we can identify with Tobit’s prayer of anguish.
At the same time, a woman named Sarah says a prayer to God as well. She’s been married 7 times; all 7 husbands have died. She says a blessings to the Lord, but she also wishes to take her own life to put herself out of her misery. The Lord hears the prayers of both Tobit and Sarah, and he sends his Angel Raphael, his special messenger, to bring healing into their lives.
Theophan the Recluse, a saint venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church, lived in the 19th century. He was a monk and Bishop of Tambov, a city is southwestern Russia, about 300 miles southeast of Moscow. He wrote extensively about the spiritual life, having once said this about prayer: “Consider prayer to be first and foremost duty of your life.” He also wrote this in one of his letters: “You should pray in your own words—before you have recited formal prayers, after you have read them, and throughout your prayer rule .” May we be touched by the heart-felt prayers of Sarah and Tobit today. May they inspire us in our own lives of prayer. We we pray for our needs, the needs of our brothers and sisters, and the needs of the world.
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