In today’s first reading, Tobit 6: 10-11; 7: 1abcde, 9-17;
8: 4-9a, we are told the story of Tobiah’s marriage to Sarah, daughter of
Raguel. Sarah was married seven times before and each of her husbands died the
night of their marriage before having relations with Sarah. For Tobiah to be given to Sarah in marriage
was, to say the least, a great risk. Would harm come to him as well and would
Sarah again be devastated by acute loss, shattered dreams, by the death of yet
another husband. Sarah’s mother, in
preparing her daughter for this eighth marriage, says to her: “Be brave, my
daughter. May the Lord grant you joy in place of your grief. Courage, my
daughter.” Sarah’s father 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. And tonight, son, may the
Lord of heaven prosper you both. May he grant you mercy and peace.” That night, Tobiah says to Sarah, “My love,
get up. Let us pray and beg our Lord to have mercy on us and grant us
deliverance.” The couple prayed and begged the Lord for deliverance that night,
blessing the Lord, praising His name, calling upon the heavens and all of
creation to praise God. And then said to God: “You made Adam and you gave him
his wife Eve to be his help and support; and from these two the human race
descended…Now, Lord, you know that I take this wife of mine not because of
lust, but for a noble purpose. Call down your mercy on me and on her, and allow
us to live together to a happy old age.”
What love! What an intimate relationship with the Lord. God
must have smiled on both of them. Several lessons emerge for me from this story,
as I reflect upon this Scripture passage: 1) every vocation is made in
heaven, 2) Putting God at the center of each of the events in our lives is
important, and especially when choosing our vocation, 3) Intimacy with the Lord
is a lifetime task that needs to be taught to our children/grandchildren early
in life, 4) Taking risks is possible when our faith/hope is anchored in the
Lord, 5) Love must be the motivator of our choice of vocation or any other
choice, not lust, not power, not “It is going to be my way or the highway; I’m
the boss here.”
What lessons emerge for you? What is God saying to you in
this passage?
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