Today’s first reading,
Tobit 6: 12-11; 7: 1bcde, 9-17; 8: 4-9a, continues the story of Tobit and his son
Tobiah, who travel to Media, where Tobiah is given his kinswoman Sarah as his
wife. Raguel, Sarah’s father, is
delighted but needs to tell Tobiah that the seven previous men to whom he gave Sarah each died on the first night of
their being together. Raguel says to
Tobiah: “Your marriage to her has been decided in heaven! Take your kinswoman;
from now on you are her love, and she is your beloved. She is yours today and
ever after….Take her and bring her back safely to your father. And may the God
of heaven grant both of you peace and prosperity.”
In my morning’s
meditation, the thought occurred to me that this is also about God’s
relationship with you and me—a relationship decided in heaven. God, the Father,
says to Jesus, His Son: “Jesus, my Son, “from
now on you are…[Dorothy Ann’s—insert your name] love and she is your beloved.
She is yours today and ever after….Take her and bring her back safely to…[Me].” The reverse is true, as well, which
reads: “And, Dorothy Ann (insert your
name), from now on you are my Son’s love and He is your beloved. Jesus is yours
today and ever after.”
I was then awakened to
the reality as how this story is about Jesus giving His life for us. Jesus, by becoming
our spouse, our beloved, our Savior, was tortured by a scourging, a crowning
with thorns, a crucifixion, and rose to save us from the Evil One. Jesus died for us so that you and I, in turn,
would die to sin and rise to holiness, die to selfishness and rise to selflessness,
die to being unjust and rise to being just in all our dealings with others, die
to being deceitful and rise to being truthful, die to being proud and arrogant and
rise to being humble in the Lord Jesus, our Savior.
My response: Thank you,
Lord, for taking on being my shepherd and all the inherent dangers of that position. Thank you for choosing me to be your beloved.
Your response?
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