“I’d Prefer Raphael Over Gandalf”

Originally Posted May 5, 2020

Many of us have read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien. The stories  are a wonder and keep you on the edge of your seat. Well the Bible has stories that will rival the adventures of Bilbo and Frodo and Gandalf.

I love the book of Tobit. What a great adventure !  It has everything…excitement,  sorrow, victory, honor, virtue, attacks of the devil, angels, … everything.

Raphael the archangel, a main character in the book,  means “God heals”. He was a friend, mentor, guide, and healer to Tobiah the young hero of the story.  Boy, that is what we all want and need as we make our way thru life, especially when we have a difficult task before us.

• There’s nothing like a friend who is there through “thick & thin”…. someone who actually likes being with us, thinks we’re smart, laughs at our jokes, overlooks our flaws, loans us money in times of need, enjoys a beer with us ….
• A mentor gazes out to the future for us. He sees our potential, encourages us to keep going, shines light on the goals we should set and how to get there.
• A guide actually walks with us toward those goals, shows us the path to take, and keeps us from going off the road.
• A healer cares for us when we are hurt, when we’ve fallen. He helps us to get back up and protects us when we’re recovering.

I wouldn’t mind going on a dangerous mission if Raphael went with me.

Well in truth for our dangerous journey of life, we have our guardian angel with us and the Holy Spirit. We also have our family. We have friends who walk with us. We really  have “friends, mentors, guides, and healers” just like Tobiah that have walked with us through our lives. Sometimes we may have not recognized that they were with us; but in truth they were there. God has never abandoned us thru our trials and never will. As noted in the beautiful poem “Footprints in the Sand”,

“My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you.”

(Reference April 2020 Magnificat, pg. 233)