The Catholic Church. Raphael:
Our Joyful Angelic Friend, Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
Couched in between the Book of Nehemiah and
Judith can be found an endearing, heart-warming, uplifting and inspiring short
Book of the Bible with the title Tobit. Composed of only fourteen short chapters, the story runs smoothly and quickly with simple but
profound messages for the whole world and at all times.
The Word of God is like a two-edged sword
that pierces bone from marrow.
Jesus reminds us that man does not simply
live on bread alone but on every word that issues forth from the mouth of God.
The Psalmist calls our attention to the
fact that the word is a lamp for our feet and a light for our path.
In this short essay we would like to focus
upon one person present in this brilliant Biblical short-story and literary
masterpiece—the person of an angel, whose name
is Raphael.
Our prayer and hope is that after reading
and prayerfully reflecting upon the Book of Tobit and becoming familiar with
this simple and humble composition, that you
will be comforted with meeting, knowing, and loving a new friend that already
knows you and loves you—the Archangel Raphael.
Indeed this Archangel
greatly desires to walk with you, accompany you in this life so that he will be
present with you for all eternity, absorbed in the love of the Blessed Trinity
for all eternity.
Two Problems & God’s
Intervention
The Book of Tobit presents us with two very
serious problems from the outset!
Two families are suffering excruciating pains
that do not seem to have an easy solution!
Problem One: There are two Tobits—the
father and son.
The father is a very good man! During a
meal, he leaves the table to help to bury the dead.
But as it happens, exhausted due to his
strenuous work of burying the dead, he falls asleep, but with his eyes open.
Unfortunately, birds passing left their
droppings that fall into his eyes.
To make a long story short, despite the
intervention of the doctors and their various remedies, the poor man ends up
blind—not able to see the light of the day, the color of the rainbow or the
smiling faces of his family members.
Imagine his suffering and all because he
sacrificed himself to exercise a corporal work of mercy—to bury the dead.
Problem Two: Not too distant from the
residence of the two Tobits lived Sarah, a distant relative to the family of
Tobit.
The suffering of this young woman was
beyond limits!
Her most earnest desire was to marry a
young man and to form a wholesome and God-fearing family.
However, the devil, whose name was
Asmodeus, intervened in a terrible fashion. Every time that Sarah would marry,
the wedding night Asmodeus would visit the room and slay her new husband,
leaving him dead and the poor young woman a widow.
This did not happen once or twice, but six
times!
The end result for Sarah was nothing less
than total despair!
The thought came to her that the best
solution would be to simply go up in the upper room, get a rope and hang
herself to end her endless misery.
Therefore, we are confronted with two very
serious family problems; on a human level, seemingly beyond solution!
However, all things are possible for God if
there is faith.
Indeed God can even move mountains.
God will intervene in a surprising, but
very powerful way, not directly, but indirectly through the mediation of one of
His chief emissaries—an angel, better yet an Archangel, whose name was Raphael.
Actually the translation of “Raphael” could be
rendered “Medicine of God or “God heals”.
In short, Raphael is sent by God to
accompany the younger Tobit to the home of Sarah for the purpose of sealing a
marriage and avoiding future tragedies.
On the way to the home, Tobit Jr. being led
by Raphael, as they walk along the shore of the sea, they grab hold of a fish
and cut out the liver of the fish which Raphael insists be brought with them to
the home of Sara and her parents—which is done!
Upon arriving Tobit asks for the hand of
Sarah in Holy Matrimony.
The parents consent to giving up their
beautiful daughter, who has suffered so much for having lost her previous six
prospect husbands.
However, before retiring that night and
consummating the marriage, both Sarah and Tobit burn some of the gall of the
fish—to ward away the evil spirits.
But even more important, they both pray that
God will protect them and bless their marriage.
This being done in the name of God, the two are
united in holy Matrimony and the evil spirits take flight.
Most likely the other prospects died because
they sought her for lustful motives rather than noble motives of pure love.
A great message today for our youth!
Thanks be to God and thanks be to the
intercession of the Archangel Raphael, “God Heals”, Sarah’s problem was brought
to a successful conclusion.
Now what about the problem of the elderly
blind man—Tobit Sr.?
Upon returning from his wedding and
arriving home with his wife, accompanied by the Archangel Raphael, the angelic
doctor insists on prayer and also to taking the fish gall that was used earlier
before the wedding night, but this time to apply the fish gall to the eyes of
the blind—father.
Done with humility and obedience something
consoling happened to the father of Tobit.
Something like scales that were covering
his eyes peeled off and he was able to see once again.
Another major victory and triumph over
human evil—sickness, manifested by blindness.
How kind, loving and good God truly is!
Therefore, before our eyes this Biblical
passage manifests God’s loving and healing presence in healing two families
with almost unsolvable predicaments—blindness and the loss of prospect
husbands.
Sadness to the point of despair was transformed
into overflowing light for the eyes and joy to the young romantic hearts.
We would invite
all of you to choose today a new friend—the Archangel Raphael, “God heals”. We
will present a list of the specific areas that this great angel can help you,
come to your aid and lead you on to the path that leads to holiness, happiness,
and heaven!
St. Raphael As The Patron Of…
( 1 ) Travelers. He led young Tobit safely to the home of his future
bride and spouse Sara.
May
Raphael accompany us and save us from the many dangers we experience on our
journey to heaven.
( 2 ) Future Spouses. It was Raphael that brought both Tobit Jr. and Sarah
together as future spouses.
Today more than ever let us consecrate our
young people to Raphael so that he might help them to make the right decision
with respect to their marriage vocation. One wrong choice can prove
catastrophic.
May this holy Angel give them light and
wisdom on this all-important choice.
( 3 ) Purity. Before they married they prayed together, expressing
their desire not to marry due to lust but for the noble purpose of forming a
family.
May our young people, through the
intercession of Saint Raphael, pursue holiness of mind, feelings, body, thought
and action!
( 4 ) Happy Meetings.
Furthermore, St. Raphael is the patron of
happy meetings or encounters.
He was the one that presented the young
couple to each other by travelling with Tobit Jr. How often do we have meetings
and encounters on a daily basis?
How often these meetings start with
tensions and end worse?
Why not make it a common practice to invite
the Archangel Raphael to be with you in your daily encounters with people.
Beyond a shadow of doubt the meetings will
be more peaceful and bear more abundant fruit. Try it!
( 5 ) Joy! Pope Francis in his Apostolic Exhortation, The Joy of the
Gospel, insists on being missionaries to the whole world, in bringing the Good
News of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to all people.
However, the Pope insists that we cannot be
walking around with a funeral face, but must radiate the joy of the Risen
Jesus!
The Archangel Raphael, by his powerful
intercession and will of Almighty God, transformed tragedy and utter despair
into an overflowing and exultant joy! Blindness into sight and death into the
joy of married love!
May you choose the Archangel Raphael to be
your travelling companion in life and he will preserve you in a constant state
of joy of heart.
( 6 ) Patron of the Eyes.
It was through the intercession of the
Archangel Saint Raphael that this poor blind man, Tobit Sr. recovered his
sight, by the application of the remains of the fish.
How important today in our modern society to
consecrate our eyes to Saint Raphael, Saint Lucy, and to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary.
In a pornographic society where so many
people are addicted to the impure image—TV., internet, movies, indecent magazines,
billboards, etc.—we must have some powerful intervention.
May Saint Raphael help us to walk on the path
of holiness and purity.
May he help us to avoid the near occasion of
sin; may he help us to control our eyes which are truly the mirror of our soul.
May this great angel help us to live out
the Beatitude: “Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.” (Mt.
5:8)
( 7 ) Patron of Prayer,
Thanks, and Praise. At the end of this
heart-warming story, the Archangel Raphael does not attribute the triumphs and
successes to himself.
On the contrary, the angel points to God
and praises and thanks God and invites Tobit, the family as well as all of us
to render praise and thanksgiving to God who is the author of all good
gifts—sight, health, healing, marriages and vocations.
May this Glorious Archangel foster in our
hearts an attitude of perpetual gratitude and a desire to constantly praise the
good God for all the gifts He has so generously bestowed upon us.
In conclusion,
you are never alone!
Starting today, why not embrace a new
friend, and angelic friend, an Archangel —Raphael.
Ask him
to walk with you, to accompany you, to be with you, to guide and protect you,
to fill you with both purity and over-flowing joy.
He longs
for your friendship.
If accepted he will be your strong and
faithful friend on earth in time and for all eternity in heaven.
Saint
Raphael, be with us; walk with us; pray for us; be our dear and constant
friend!
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