Memorial of Saint Boniface, Bishop and Martyr

Lectionary: 358

I can now tell you that when you, Tobit, and Sarah prayed, it was I who presented and read the record of your prayer before the Glory of the Lord; and I did the same thing when you used to bury the dead.

When you did not hesitate to get up and leave your dinner in order to go and bury the dead, I was sent to put you to the test.

At the same time, however, God commissioned me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord.”

The Book of Tobit ends with a flourish as the Archangel Raphael reveals his true identity and assures us that God rewards the righteous and hears their prayers. He describes a kind of heavenly bureaucracy with managers who handle the daily intake of prayer petitions, and God as the Divine Dispatcher who sends his angels to handle the details of wish fulfillment. It sounds like an Amazon warehouse but even more efficient. 

By the time this book was written the Jewish religion was certain that there is only one God and that God regards our nation with particular favor. Their history of covenant and sin and reconciliation demonstrated the LORD's supreme power over all the nations, despite their recent history of military defeat and foreign oppression. The Spirit that would not die, that would not let them forget the Lord, proved that which no argument could dissuade. "Our Lord is God and there is no other." 

Tobit rebuts the querulous complaint we hear occasionally, that "God doesn't have time for me." There is a kind of arrogance in declaring God has more important things to attend. The god they imagine is too small; he has only created the universe with billions and billions of galaxies and stars in all its splendor. The God of our Bible is a Divine Shepherd who calls his sheep by name and leads them in safety to green pasture and clear springs. This God goes with us and answers our prayers. This God is named Emmanuel, meaning, "God with us." 

Shaking off the arrogance of goats and accepting our station as sheep, we readily bring all our concerns and prayers before the Heavenly Throne. Nor do we hesitate to seek the help of patron saints and angels like Raphael. If we ask one another for prayer, why would we not recruit the proven saints and angels to pray with us and for us?