Wednesday, January 30, 2013

How Does Archangel Raphael Heal People in the Bible's Book of Tobit?

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Saint RaphaelPhoto by Eugenio Hansen, OFS, of a stained glass window depiction of Archangel Raphael and Tobias

Question: How Does Archangel Raphael Heal People in the Bible's Book of Tobit?
Archangel Raphael (also known as Saint Raphael) visits people to deliver both physical and spiritual healing in a famous story described in the Book of Tobit (considered part of the Bible by Catholic and Orthodox Christians).
In the story, a faithful man named Tobit sends his son Tobias to go to a foreign country to retrieve some money from a family member. Tobias hires a guide to show him the way there and doesn't realize that the guide he has hired is actually archangel Raphael in disguise. Along the way, Raphael cures Tobit of blindness and drives away a demon named Azazel who had been tormenting Sarah, the woman whom Tobias was going to marry.
Answer:

Expressing Thanks for a Job Well Done

The Book of Tobit describes how Raphael directs Tobias to use ointment made from a fish to heal his father Tobit's blindness and how Raphael guides Tobias to scare away the demon that had been tormenting Sarah. By chapter 12, Tobias still thinks that the wise and mysterious stranger accompanying him on his journey is a man. But when Tobias and Tobit try to express their gratitude by paying the companion, they discover that he is actually an archangel -- Raphael -- who wants them to direct their thanks to God:
"When the wedding feast was over, Tobit called his son Tobias and said, 'My son, you ought to think about paying the amount due to your fellow traveler; give him more than the figure agreed on.'
'Father,' he replied, 'how much am I to give him for his help? Even if I give him half the goods he brought back with me, I shall not be the loser. He has brought me back safe and sound, he has cured my wife, he has brought the money back too, and now he has cured you as well. How much am I to give him for all this?'
Tobit said, 'He has richly earned half what he brought back'." (Tobit 12:1-14).
In her book The Healing Miracles of Archangel Raphael, Doreen Virtue notes that the valuable help that Raphael gives Tobias when they're traveling together inspired people to name Raphael a patron saint of travelers: "Tobias gains wisdom, valuable experiences, and a bride along the way, thanks to Raphael. Ever since he accompanied Tobias on his journey, archangel Raphael has been a patron saint of travelers."
The story continues in Tobit 12:5-6: "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 the favor he has shown you. Bless and extol his name. Proclaim before all people the deeds of God as they deserve, and never tire of giving him thanks."
In her book Angelic Healing: Working with Your Angels to Heal Your Life, Eileen Elias Freeman writes that it's important to notice that "Raphael declines any thanks or reward" and instead directs the men toward praising God for their blessings. Freeman continues: "This is clearly the most central things we learn about Raphael, and, by analogy, about all the servants of God -- that they come to us by the will of God and not by their own decisions. They expect the respect that such a messenger deserves, but they will take no special thanks or glory for themselves; they refer it all back to God, who sent them. It is something to remember when we try to make the healing partnership we have with our guardian angel a two-way street. It is not. Without God to give depth and breadth to the relationship, it is flat and lifeless."

Revealing His True Identity

The story continues in Tobit 12:7-15, where Raphael finally reveals his identity to Tobit and Tobias. Raphael says: "It is right to keep the secret of a king, yet right to reveal and publish the works of God as they deserve. Do what is good, and no evil can befall you. Prayer with fasting and alms with uprightness are better than riches with iniquity. Better to practice giving to the poor than to hoard up gold. Giving to the poor saves from death and purges every kind of sin. Those who give to people in need 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 a worthy way the words 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.'

Praising God

Then, in chapter 12, verses 16 to 21, the Book of Tobit describes how Tobit and Tobias reacted to what Raphael had just told them: "They were both overwhelmed with awe; they fell on their faces in terror."
But the angel said, 'Do not be afraid; peace be with you. Bless God forever. As far as I was concerned, when I was with you, my presence was not by any decision of mine, but by the will of God; he is the one whom you must bless as long as you live, he the one that you must praise. You thought you saw me eating, but that was appearance and no more. Now bless the Lord on earth and give thanks to God. I am about to return to him who sent me from above. Write down all that has happened.' And he rose in the air.
When they stood up again, he was no longer visible. They praised God with hymns; they thanked him for having performed such wonders; had not an angel of God appeared to them?"

Thursday, January 24, 2013

Homer's Iliad Explained

Homer's Secret Iliad: The Epic of the Night Skies Decoded



This book makes real sense of The Iliad

 









[See also our post of 16 March 2009:
"Was Homer’s “Odyssey” Based on the Hebrew Books of Job and Tobit?"]
 






From the flyleaf of Homer’s Secret Iliad, by Florence and Kenneth Wood, which was deservingly awarded Book of the Year when first released in 1999.

During the 1930s the young daughter of a Kansas farmer spent night after night watching the stars and planets wheel across the vast prairie sky. Later, as a teacher in England , she combined her devotion to astronomy with a passion for Homer. This led her to a discovery which would lie buried until her daughter, Florence Wood, inherited her papers in 1991.
Her years of study, it became clear, had revealed Homer’s great epic to be also the world’s oldest book of astronomy.
[AMAIC comment: The dating of the Iliad, and whether it really belonged to the presumed time of Homer, is actually a challenging issue of its own; one with which the AMAIC hopes to come to grips elsewhere].
The changing configuration of the stars, so important for navigation and the measurement of time, had a fascination for the ancient world that it has lost today. In the Iliad, battles between Greeks and Trojans mirror the movements of stars and constellations as they appear to fight for ascendancy in the sky. The timescale of Homeric astronomy is breathtaking; elements can be dated to the ninth millennium BC [sic], long before the recorded astronomy of Mesopotamia and Egypt . Geography is also represented, since the shapes of constellations were used as ‘skymaps’ to direct ancient travellers throughout Greece and Asia Minor .


Homer was probably the last and most accomplished of a long line of bards who wove such knowledge into the epics they memorized and declaimed. After his lifetime the Greek alphabet preserved his works in writing, and the study of the skies changed too, moving away from pure observation to a science that applied mathematics and geometry. The astronomical content of the Iliad was gradually forgotten.
This unique and fascinating book unlocks its hidden meaning once again. It documents one of the most important discoveries this century about the ancient Greek world.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Blessing Holy Name of God: Tobit and Job



Tobit 13

Tobit’s Thanksgiving to God



13Then Tobit* said:

‘Blessed be God who lives for ever,

because his kingdom* lasts throughout all ages.

2 For he afflicts, and he shows mercy;

he leads down to Hades in the lowest regions of the earth,

and he brings up from the great abyss,*

and there is nothing that can escape his hand.

3 Acknowledge him before the nations, O children of Israel;

for he has scattered you among them.

4 He has shown you his greatness even there.

Exalt him in the presence of every living being,

because he is our Lord and he is our God;

he is our Father and he is God for ever.

5 He will afflict* you for your iniquities,

but he will again show mercy on all of you.

He will gather you from all the nations

among whom you have been scattered.

6 If you turn to him with all your heart and with all your soul,

to do what is true before him,

then he will turn to you

and will no longer hide his face from you.

So now see what he has done for you;

acknowledge him at the top of your voice.

Bless the Lord of righteousness,

and exalt the King of the ages.*

In the land of my exile I acknowledge him,

and show his power and majesty to a nation of sinners:

“Turn back, you sinners, and do what is right before him;

perhaps he may look with favour upon you and show you mercy.”

7 As for me, I exalt my God,

and my soul rejoices in the King of heaven.

8 Let all people speak of his majesty,

and acknowledge him in Jerusalem.

9 O Jerusalem, the holy city,

he afflicted* you for the deeds of your hands,*

but will again have mercy on the children of the righteous.

10 Acknowledge the Lord, for he is good,*

and bless the King of the ages,

so that his tent* may be rebuilt in you in joy.

May he cheer all those within you who are captives,

and love all those within you who are distressed,

to all generations for ever.

11 A bright light will shine to all the ends of the earth;

many nations will come to you from far away,

the inhabitants of the remotest parts of the earth to your holy name,

bearing gifts in their hands for the King of heaven.

Generation after generation will give joyful praise in you;

the name of the chosen city will endure for ever.

12 Cursed are all who speak a harsh word against you;

cursed are all who conquer you

and pull down your walls,

all who overthrow your towers

and set your homes on fire.

But blessed for ever will be all who revere you.*

13 Go, then, and rejoice over the children of the righteous,

for they will be gathered together

and will praise the Lord of the ages.

14 Happy are those who love you,

and happy are those who rejoice in your prosperity.

Happy also are all people who grieve with you

because of your afflictions;

for they will rejoice with you

and witness all your glory for ever.

15 My soul blesses* the Lord, the great King!

16 For Jerusalem will be built* as his house for all ages.

How happy I will be if a remnant of my descendants should survive

to see your glory and acknowledge the King of heaven.

The gates of Jerusalem will be built with sapphire and emerald,

and all your walls with precious stones.

The towers of Jerusalem will be built with gold,

and their battlements with pure gold.

The streets of Jerusalem will be paved

with ruby and with stones of Ophir.

17 The gates of Jerusalem will sing hymns of joy,

and all her houses will cry, “Hallelujah!

Blessed be the God of Israel!”

and the blessed will bless the holy name for ever and ever.’

....


Taken from: http://bible.oremus.org/?ql=120753435



Job 1:21

English Standard Version (ESV)



21 And he said,“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

....

Taken from: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+1%3A21&version=ESV