In today's Gospel, the Sadducees make up a case that they think shows how ridiculous the doctrine of the resurrection is, and the case that they make up resembles what actually happened to Sarah, a woman who was married and widowed seven times without having children.
Although they could have read about her case in the Book of Tobit, which existed at the time, it seems more likely that they just made up the story independently, because Tobit talks about an angel, and the Sadducees didn't believe in angels, so it doesn't seem like the kind of book that they would read.
Before Sarah enters the story, we have Tobit's prayer.
As you may recall from yesterday, he has been blind for four years, he's now reduced to poverty, and now even his wife seems to have turned against him.
It's too much, and he breaks down in tears, he doesn't want to live anymore.
Nevertheless, like Job, even when driven to this extreme, he doesn't blame God.
He continues to believe what his name means, Tobia, my good is God.
In his prayer, he confesses that God is merciful and faithful, and the Lord is rightly just to the world, and he is just, so he does not punish for no reason, or out of proportion to sin.
Tobit cannot say exactly why he's suffering, it could be for his own sins, because even though he's very careful to observe God's law, he cannot claim to be perfect.
But if he's not suffering for his own sins, then perhaps it is for those of his ancestors or contemporaries, for this is why he's in exile.
He pleads, punish me not for my sins, nor for my inadvertent offenses, nor for those of my ancestors, but if God sees fit to continue to punish, then Tobit asks him to do it by taking his life, for the unmerited insults he must hear are hard to bear, and he is overwhelmed with grief.
At the same time, Sarah was making a very similar prayer in her house at Ekpatana, some 400 miles away by road.
Like Tobit, she had been unjustly mocked by someone in her household.
Her long-term suffering was a different one, but like Tobit's, it seemed beyond hope of remedy.
He had an illness that no one could cure, and she was an unwilling virgin who had been married seven times, and all seven husbands had died before they could consummate the marriage.
Each was killed by a demon, the same demon, and now there was no one left to marry her.
So like Tobit, she prayed for death.
She faces the window to see the heavens as she prays to heaven, and because her prayer is similar to his, it has been omitted from the reading, or most of it has.
So is it permissible to pray for death?
Yes, if there is a serious reason, and the prayer is made with resignation to whatever God will decide.
It is wrong to commit suicide because this usurps God's authority over life and death, but it is not wrong to ask God to use his own authority to take one's life.
Besides Tobit and Sarah, other holy people in the Bible pray for death, Job, Moses, Elijah, and Jonah.
Nevertheless, we can notice this, none of these obtained what they asked for.
Despite being in an apparently hopeless situation, God had different plans for each one of them, but other than their death.
Both Tobit's prayer and Sarah's prayer are heard, but they were granted healing rather than death.
Raphael, whose name means medicine of God, interceded for them and was sent to carry out this twofold mission.
Towards the end of the book, he will tell Tobit that his prayer was heard because of his almsgiving.
It is our deeds of charity, our good works that give power to our prayers.
So his works of mercy did not lead to blindness, but through blindness to healing and happiness.
But Tobit knew nothing of this.
He assumed that his prayer to die would be granted.
At this point, he remembered that he had left a large sum of money on deposit in a far country twenty years ago.
So even though he was now living in poverty, he could die in peace, knowing that he would be able to leave a good inheritance to his son.
But he'd better tell him before God answered his prayer and he died.
So he went downstairs to speak to his son and gave him an oral testament, which lasts for a whole chapter.
We didn't read that, we skipped over it.
Most of it is an exhortation to be just, to avoid sin, to do works of mercy, especially to give alms.
The main treasure that he leaves his son is his own good example of how to observe it.
At the end, he tells him about the money.
Tobias wants to go get it, but it would be dangerous to travel alone.
So he finds someone among his people who will accompany him.
This companion turns out to be none other than the Archangel Raphael, but they will only learn that when the pair have returned with the money.
So St. Bede, once again, speaks of the spiritual meaning of these words. They are for those who are living in poverty, for those who have committed sin, for those in darkness of unbelief like the Gentiles.
Their teachers knew about this life, the life in this world only, which runs a course of seven days.
But they were unable to say anything about eternal life.
He's speaking about the philosophers.
And so they were all carried off by the devil inasmuch as they were all given over to idolatry until the true bridegroom, the Lord, came.
He overcame the enemy and, through faith, united them, that is, the Gentiles, to himself as Tobiah took Sarah to wife after tying up the devil on the instructions and with the aid of the archangel.
And so Tobiah represents our Lord insofar as he is man, while Raphael represents him insofar as he is God.
So Tobiah, the man, is the bridegroom, while Raphael, the spirit, is the spirit, the divine spirit.
And so Tobias is able to overcome the demon with the help of the archangel as Christ overcomes the devil by his divine power and thus unites the pagan peoples to himself.
So as for Raphael, it is said of our Lord that his name shall be called the angel of great counsel.
So he is fittingly represented by an angel.
And the Lord also says of himself, it is not those who are well that need the physician, but those who are ill.
So he presents himself as a physician.
And so the healing angel represents our Lord who comes to bring healing in the world, who comes both to redeem the Jewish people from the darkness of unbelief and the Gentiles from the bondage of idolatry.
And so he heals them.
So as Tobit is blind, as he is in the blindness of unbelief, as the Jewish people at this time, those who are still Jews and not yet Christians, are blind and unable to recognize Christ.
And so Christ comes to bring this healing and over the centuries has brought many Jews to recognize Christ, starting, of course, with his apostles.
And then he comes also to free the Gentiles from the bondage of idolatry, to be their true husband, the true spouse of the church.
And so we see in these events not only lessons for our own life about the faithfulness of God, about the power of prayer, but also lessons that speak to us about Christ and his church.
Praised be Jesus and Mary, now and forever.

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