Raphael said to Tobiah before he reached his father: “I am certain that his eyes will be opened.” The presence of the angel Raphael (“God heals!”) guiding Tobiah was something new in the Jewish story. Angels ordinarily zip in, drop their message, and leave. That a angel would spend time accompanying Tobiah showed that the… Read More »

Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” You can think about being “not far” in different ways. If you get 97 on your math exam you’re not far from perfection but that is still pretty good. If you get to the train station for a 7:00 train at 7:02… Read More »

During Ordinary Time the two readings are not designed to comment on each other. A particular book of the Bible and a Gospel are chosen and then read through chapter by chapter. Is it a coincidence or a providence that both the Old Testament lesson from the Book of Tobit and the Gospel text from… Read More »

The Book of Tobit was probably written about the year 300BCE, probably in Babylon, probably in Aramaic. It was not part of the Hebrew Bible but was included in the Greek translation of the Old Testament called the Septuagint which served as the basis for the Christian Bible. However, Martin Luther did not include it… Read More »

The Visitation is the story of two pregnant women meeting — certainly a common enough event. There is a profound truth woven into the encounter. It is easy to imagine that a woman expecting a child becomes self-centered, focused only on what she is going through. The visitation of Elizabeth and Mary shows the exact… Read More »

Remember a few years ago there was a movement which asked “What would Jesus Do” – WWJD. There were WWJD bracelets, hats, t-shirts. Figuring out what Jesus would do in any particular situation was supposed to guide one’s actions. My guess is that movement faded because we know what Jesus did back in the day… Read More »

I sought wisdom openly in my prayer … and I will seek her until the end. Wisdom is a big deal in the Bible. One third of the Old Testament is devoted to wisdom, pursuing it, acquiring it, retaining it. Yet in contemporary American culture wisdom does not seem to be highly valued. Knowledge is.… Read More »

Now will I praise those godly men, our ancestors. Remembering those who have gone before us is an important component of many cultures: the Day of the Dead in Mexico, ancestor “worship” in China, the traditional practices of many African societies. In the United States the people of New Orleans go to the cemetery on… Read More »

I had a spiritual director once who suggested that I make a part of my prayer to ask for “the grace of the day.” Jesus gave Bartimaeus an opportunity to do exactly that: Jesus said to him in reply, “What do you want me to do for you?” It is not a surprise that the… Read More »

My younger brother would introduce his request to our mother by saying, “Now don’t say me ‘no.’”  James and John utilized s similar preemptive strategy: ‘Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” My mother would, at times, say “no” to my brother since he really didn’t need that eighteenth… Read More »