Trusting in God's Love

Homily for Thursday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

There is no denying that the story from the Book of Tobit which is proclaimed today is both endearing and a lesson for everyone who hears it. Tobiah decides to take Sarah as his wife even though seven men have died before they could consummate their marriage with her. Though we know that the story has a happy ending, Tobiah and Sarah had to be afraid given Sarah’s history with husbands. Despite the ominous news and what must have been tremendous fear, Tobiah takes Sarah as his wife, trusting in the mercy of God. In a beautiful scene on the night of their marriage, Tobiah and Sarah prayed together beseeching God’s mercy that they may live together to a happy old age.

Of particular note is the fact that the prayer that they recite begins not with their request but with their praise of God, recalling the mercy of God and God’s insistence that human beings were created by love and for love. Their prayer demonstrates the importance of prayer as a uniting force of love in a relationship. Instead of cajoling or bargaining with the Lord in order to acquire what we want, Tobiah and Sarah teach us to pray as a way to grow in love with God and neighbor – with our spouse, friends, even strangers.

Indeed, as Jesus tells us in today’s Gospel passage, the kingdom of God is close when love supersedes all else. As we approach the Eucharistic table today, we carry with us the prayer of Tobiah and Sarah, for whom the call to love overcame all fear, and even death itself.