“…the dog followed Tobias”

I re-read the book of Tobit last night.

Why, you ask?

Because it’s the text for the first readings at daily Mass this week, and as much as I fail at it, I do try to ground my spiritual life in what God hands me through the Church.

I mean, I could have focused on the Gospels or the feasts, but something nudged me to take another look at Tobit, after lo, so many years.

Here it is. It’s not as short as Jonah or John’s letters, but nonetheless, it won’t take you long.

Tobit is one of the stranger tales in the Bible, a mix of historical setting and allusions, prayer, callbacks to Israel’s history and some folktale vibes. It’s intriguingly, effectively structured, too.

Tobit is in exile – not as part of the 6th century Babylonian Exile, but the 8th century conquest of the Northern Kingdom by Assyria.

Even in exile Tobit tries to be faithful. Hardly anyone else is, even his fellow Israelites. But Tobit forges on, observing his ritual duties and giving himself over to works of charity – helping the poor and burying the dead.

One night, Tobit reclines for a rest near a wall where sparrows are nesting. Their excretions fall in his eyes, and he’s blinded.

Tobit has a wife, Anna, and a son named Tobiah. He sends Tobiah off to the home of a relation to retrieve some money he’d stored there. How will Tobias find his way? Well, here comes an angel – Raphael (“God heals”) – sharing his name with the human beings as Azariah (“YHWH has helped”), whose presence we’re told right when he shows up, will make a huge difference in several people’s lives. He’ll not only guide Tobiah, but his actions will bring healing to Tobit and drive demons from the life of a young woman….

….who will be Tobiah’s wife. Eventually. She’d been married seven times before, but each wedding night, a demon appeared and offed her new husband. She’s naturally hesitant to try this again, but is assured, and sure enough, a White Wedding scenario is avoided.

How?

Fish guts.

A large fish attacks Tobiah – tries to swallow his foot – but it’s caught and gutted. Part of it’s consumed, part salted and saved, and part, through Raphael’s instruction, saved for other purposes:

Then the young man asked the angel this question: “Brother Azariah, what medicine is in the fish’s heart, liver, and gall?”

He answered: “As for the fish’s heart and liver, if you burn them to make smoke in the presence of a man or a woman who is afflicted by a demon or evil spirit, any affliction will flee and never return.

As for the gall, if you apply it to the eyes of one who has white scales, blowing right into them, sight will be restored.

So yes, you can see what happens. Demons are driven off, eyes are opened and prayers of gratitude are prayed.

Takeaways?

• Tobit, living a landscape and environment completely hostile to his faith, remains faithful. He continues to pray and to praise. He continues to fulfill his duties, primarily those of charity and care for others. He doesn’t spend time blaming others or any other force for the situation, but confronts it and accepts his own responsibility for what God has allowed to happen.
• Life can be ripped apart, but God’s not far away, even then. He shows up, as the preachers like to say. He’s right here, guiding us, responding to us in ways that we only gradually come to understand. He works through the stuff – all the stuff – of this world – like a fish – to engage and heal. You just never know.

• And then there’s the dog.

The dog is mentioned twice – once as Tobiah and Azariah depart…

When the young man left home, accompanied by the angel, the dog followed Tobiah out and went along with them…

…and then when they return…

So both went on ahead together, and Raphael said to him, “Take the gall in your hand!” And the dog ran along behind them.

Which is why there’s almost always a dog in artistic depictions of the story.

It’s a strange detail, but certainly not random:

Tobias must journey far from home, yes, but he’s not alone. At each step, the Lord accompanies him in the form of his angel, and at each step, home and family – in the form of the faithful dog – stay close, as well.

This is life:

Suffering, persecution, the struggle to stay faithful and trust in God’s presence and love, physical pain, spiritual torment, confusion – and then: the Lord, walking beside us on the way, offering healing surprising ways through ordinary things on this journey on which the ties of family and home are impossible to shake – like it or not.

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