In the first reading today from Tobit 2, we see Tobit go through some real hardship in his life. He loses his sight for four years. How would this effect you? In a moment, we’ll talk about how it effected Tobit. The Gospel passage today is from Mark 12. Jesus is asked about whether it is right to pay the census tax. He responds with his famous saying, “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”
Tobit had lost his sight. A traumatic event, no doubt. Now, we know that Tobit was an upright man. But his blindness seems to have had a negative effect on him. In the story today, he gets into a tiff with his wife over a goat. She earned it, but he doesn’t believe her. So his wife says, “Where are your charitable deeds now? Where are your virtuous acts? See! Your true character is finally showing itself!” Ouch!
There’s an old maxim, “Prosperity conceals character. Adversity reveals it.” How true this is. And perhaps we see an example of that today. Seems that we can be pretty nice people when things are going our way. But when things start to go south…well, that’s when our claws can start to come out, right? Why is that? I believe it’s because we lack the peace that comes through greater trust in God. That peace begins when we get better at seeing everything as part of God’s plan.
Father, thank you for seeing us through the good times and the bad. Give us the grace to trust in you, so that adversity will reveal in us a character of trust. Amen.
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