Optional Memorial of Saint Ephrem, deacon and doctor of the Church
The 1st reading today continues the Tobit epoch. Again, a few details capture our attention in order to bolster the development of faith, hope and charity in our lives. Let’s read the whole text carefully to see what they are.
First: There’s Anna. Remember on Monday she was depicted as the ideal wife; on Tuesday, the Ms. Job, who railed at Tobit, the source of her injury. Once the center of his love, she become the bane of his existence. “Your true character is finally showing itself,” he snapped. Today she is again the loving wife, the mother who waits for the return of her son, the sympathetic bearer of good news for her dear husband. Isn’t it true we easily judge another, only to learn later what a loving person he or she really is? Patience, hope, love.
Second: Tobit. Earlier he was described as a holy man, who was given the gift of blindness to enable him to see who he really was. Now we learn how he was cured of his blindness, enabled to see his wife and son as God sees them. Patience.
Three: Isn’t there something in this reading that conjures up St. Luke’s account of the return of the Prodigal Son? The father at the end of each narrative is overwhelmed with joy, Faith, forgiveness, joy, gratitude.
Resolve: I shall thank the Lord for the graces he has given me as a result of my reflecting on this week’s 1st readings. With gratitude I’ll ask him to give me, and those for whom I pray, an increase of faith, hope, charity, patience, joy and especially gratitude.