"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. 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. 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. For almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purge away every sin. Those who perform deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fulness [sic] of life; but those who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives.'" Tobit 12: 6-10
Tobit is a devout Jew and a righteous man who is taken captive by the Assyrians with the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel in 721 BC. As his life draws to a close, he is in a lowly state and blind. His son is sent to reclaim the family fortune and ends up traveling with Raphael (the angel, not the painter or ninja turtle), finding a wife and praising God. A deuterocanonical work, the Anglican tradition includes Tobit in a section of the Bible called the Apocrypha and recognizes its value for moral formation but not for doctrinal teaching.
This passage from Tobit reminds us that it is always right and proper to worship God, and to do what is right, specifically in the manner of giving alms to the poor and performing acts of charity.
Fr. Michael+
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