June 6, 2015

Saturday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time

Tobit called his son Tobiah and said to him,
“Son, see to it that you give what is due to the man
who made the journey with you; give him a bonus too.”
So he called Raphael and said,
“Take as your wages half of all that you have brought back,
and go in peace.”

Raphael called the two men aside privately and said to them:
“Thank God! Give him the praise and the glory.
Before all the living,
acknowledge the many good things he has done for you,
by blessing and extolling his name in song.
Honor and proclaim God’s deeds,
and do not be slack in praising him.
A king’s secret it is prudent to keep,
but the works of God are to be declared and made known.
Praise them with due honor.
Do good, and evil will not find its way to you.
Prayer and fasting are good,
but better than either is almsgiving accompanied by righteousness.
A little with righteousness is better than abundance with wickedness.
It is better to give alms than to store up gold;
for almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin.
Those who regularly give alms shall enjoy a full life;
but those habitually guilty of sin are their own worst enemies.

“I will now tell you the whole truth;
I will conceal nothing at all from you.
I have already said to you,
‘A king’s secret it is prudent to keep,
but the works of God are to be made known with due honor.’
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.”

“So now get up from the ground and praise God.
Behold, I am about to ascend to him who sent me;
write down all these things that have happened to you.”

Responsorial Psalm Tb 13:2, 6efgh, 7, 8

R. (1b) Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
He scourges and then has mercy;
he casts down to the depths of the nether world,
and he brings up from the great abyss.
No one can escape his hand.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
So now consider what he has done for you,
and praise him with full voice.
Bless the Lord of righteousness,
and exalt the King of ages.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
In the land of my exile I praise him
and show his power and majesty to a sinful nation.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.
Bless the Lord, all you his chosen ones,
and may all of you praise his majesty.
Celebrate days of gladness, and give him praise.
R. Blessed be God, who lives for ever.

Alleluia Mt 5:3

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are the poor in spirit;
for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

Gospel Mk 12:38-44

In the course of his teaching Jesus said,
“Beware of the scribes, who like to go around in long robes
and accept greetings in the marketplaces,
seats of honor in synagogues,
and places of honor at banquets.
They devour the houses of widows and, as a pretext,
recite lengthy prayers.
They will receive a very severe condemnation.”

He sat down opposite the treasury
and observed how the crowd put money into the treasury.
Many rich people put in large sums.
A poor widow also came and put in two small coins worth a few cents.
Calling his disciples to himself, he said to them,
“Amen, I say to you, this poor widow put in more
than all the other contributors to the treasury.
For they have all contributed from their surplus wealth,
but she, from her poverty, has contributed all she had,
her whole livelihood.”

From: Tobit 12:1-20

The Archangel Raphael reveals himself

[1] Tobit then called his son Tobias and said to him, “My son, see to the wages
of the man who went with you; and he must also be given more.” [2] He replied,
“Father it would do me no harm to give him half of what I have brought back. [3]
For he has led me back to you safely, he cured my wife, he obtained the money
for me, and he also healed you.” [4] The old man said, “He deserves it.” [5] So
he called the angel and said to him, “Take half of all that you two have brought
back.”

[6] Then the angel called the two of them privately and said to them: “Praise God
and give thanks to him; exalt him and give thanks to him in the presence of all the
living for what he has done for you. It is good to praise God and to exalt his name,
worthily declaring the works of God. Do not be slow to give him thanks. [7] It is
good to guard the secret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God. Do
good, and evil will not overtake you. [8] Prayer is good when accompanied by
fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than
much with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. [9] For
almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purse away every sin. Those who per-
form deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fullness of life; [10] but those
who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives.

[11] I will not conceal anything from you. I have said, ‘It is good to guard the se-
cret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God.’ [12] And so, when you
and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer be-
fore the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was likewise present with
you. [13] When you did not hesitate to rise and leave your dinner in order to go
and lay out the dead, your good deed was not hidden from your daughter-in-law
Sarah. [15] I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers
of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One.”

[16] They were both alarmed; and they fell upon their faces, for they were afraid.
[17] But he said to them, “Do not be afraid; you will be safe. But praise God for
ever. [18] For I did not come as a favour on my part, but by the will of our God.
Therefore praise him for ever. [19] All these days I merely appeared to you and
did not eat or drink, but you were seeing a vision. [20] And now give thanks to
God, for I am ascending to him who sent me. Write in a book everything that
has happened.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

12:1-22. Giving the angels half the money brought from Media shows Tobit’s
great generosity and Tobias’ appreciation of the angel’s good offices. The young
man attributes all the various favours to the angel (v. 3). But now the focus turns
to what Raphael has to say – angelic words and therefore of special significance.
Commenting on this book, St. Ambrose highlights the virtues that make Tobit a
model of righteousness and good works: “But that holy man Tobit [. . .] under-
stood that the servant too must be paid a just wage. He offered half of what he
owned, and it is no coincidence that the servant he hired was an angel. As for
you, if you deny a just man his due reward, or worse still a weak man – Woe to
him who scandalizes one of these, the least of my little ones – how do you know
that you are not defrauding an angel? From the moment that Christ became a
child, it became impossible for us to doubt that our servant could be an angel.
Give your servant his due, do not deprive him of the reward for his labour,
because you yourself are a servant of Christ, who has brought you into his vine-
yard and has prepared a place in heaven for you” (St. Ambrose, De Tobia, 24,
91-92).

Tobit and his son feel a reverential fear on finding themselves in the presence of
an angel, but Raphael puts them at ease, telling them not to be afraid and show-
ing them that it has all been by the will of God: they should praise God, and put
the whole story down in writing (vv. 17-21). Tobit and Tobias do confess the
wonderful works of God (v. 22) and the sacred author has done the writing.

Many psalms in the Bible, particularly those of thanksgiving, bear witness to what
God has done in the personal life of the psalmist, but the most splendid instance
of all is to be found in the Magnificat, the Virgin Mary’s prayer of praise after the
Annunciation (cf. Lk 1:46-55).

*********************************************************************************************
Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

From: Mark 12:38-44

Jesus Censures the Scribes

[38] And in His (Jesus’) teaching He said, “Beware of the scribes, who like to
go about in long robes, and to have salutations in the market places [39] and the
best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at feasts, [40] who devour
widow’s houses and for a pretense make long prayers. They will receive the
greater condemnation.”

The Widow’s Mite

[41] And He sat down opposite the treasury, and watched the multitude putting
money into the treasury. Many rich people put in large sums. [42] And a poor
widow came, and put in two copper coins, which make a penny. [43] And He
called His disciples to Him, and said to them, “Truly, I say to you, this poor wi-
dow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the treasury. [44] For
they all contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in
everything she had, her whole living.”

*********************************************************************************************
Commentary:

38-40. Our Lord reproves disordered desire for human honors: “We should notice
that salutations in the marketplace are not forbidden, nor people taking the best
seats if that befits their position; rather, the faithful are warned to avoid, as they
would evil men, those who set too much store by such honors” (St. Bede, “In Mar-
ci Evangelium Expositio, in loc.”). See also notes on Matthew 23:2-3, 5, 11 and
14.

41-44. Our Lord uses this little event to teach us the importance of things which
apparently are insignificant. He puts it somewhat paradoxically; the poor widow
has contributed more than all the rich. In God’s sight the value of such an action
lies more in upright intention and generosity of spirit than in the quantity one
gives. “Didn’t you see the light in Jesus’ eyes as the poor widow left her little
alms in the temple? Give Him what you can: the merit is not in whether it is big
or small, but in the intention with which you give it” (St. J. Escriva, “The Way”,
829).

By the same token, our actions are pleasing to God even if they are not as perfect
as we would like. St. Francis de Sales comments: “Now as among the treasures
of the temple, the poor widow’s mite was much esteemed, so the least little good
works, even though performed somewhat coldly and not according to the whole
extent of the charity which is in us, are agreeable to God, and esteemed by Him;
so that though of themselves they cannot cause and increase in the existing love
[...] yet Divine Providence, counting on them and, out of His goodness, valuing
them, forthwith rewards them with increase in charity for the present, and assigns
to them a greater Heavenly glory for the future” (St. Francis de Sales, “Treatise
on the Love of God”, Book 3, Chapter 2).

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.

Readings at Mass

First reading

Tobit 12:1,5-15,20 ©

When the feasting was over, Tobit called his son Tobias and said, ‘My son, you ought to think about paying the amount due to your fellow traveller; give him more than the figure agreed on.’ So Tobias called his companion and said, ‘Take half of what you brought back, in payment for all you have done, and go in peace.’

Then Raphael took them both aside and said, ‘Bless God, utter his praise before all the living for all the favours he has given you. Bless and extol his name. Proclaim before all men the deeds of God as they deserve, and never tire of giving him thanks. It is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right to reveal and publish the works of God. Thank him worthily. Do what is good, and no evil can befall you.

‘Prayer with fasting and alms with right conduct are better than riches with iniquity. Better to practise almsgiving than to hoard up gold. Almsgiving saves from death and purges every kind of sin. Those who give alms have their fill of days; those who commit sin and do evil, bring harm on themselves.

‘I am going to tell you the whole truth, hiding nothing from you. I have already told you that it is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right too to reveal in worthy fashion the works of God. So you must know that when you and Sarah were at prayer, it was I who offered your supplications before the glory of the Lord and who read them; so too when you were burying the dead. When you did not hesitate to get up and leave the table to go and bury a dead man, I was sent to test your faith, and at the same time God sent me to heal you and your daughter-in-law Sarah. I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of the Lord.

‘Now bless the Lord on earth and give thanks to God. I am about to return to him above who sent me.’

Canticle

Tobit 13:2,6-8 ©