Tobias and the Angel Raphael

Tobit is set among Israelite exiles in the Assyrian city of Nineveh. Tobit, from the tribe of Naphtali, is a faithful man. He gives to the poor and, at real risk to himself, buries fellow Israelites whose bodies have been left in the open (Tob 1:16–20). Later, as he sleeps outdoors, droppings from birds fall into his eyes, and he goes blind (2:9–10). Poor and discouraged, he asks God to let him die. On the same day, far away in Ecbatana in Media, a young woman named Sarah prays too. She has been married seven times, and each husband died on the wedding night, killed by a demon named Asmodeus (3:7–8). God hears both prayers and sends the angel Raphael to help them both (3:16–17).

Tobit sends his son Tobias to Media to collect money he once left with a relative, Gabael. Tobias hires a guide who calls himself Azariah, a relative. The reader knows what Tobias doesn't: this is Raphael. The family dog comes too.

At the Tigris River a large fish leaps at Tobias while he is washing. At the angel's word he catches it and keeps the heart, liver and gall for healing.

In Ecbatana they stay with Raguel, Tobias's relative and Sarah's father. Raphael tells Tobias that he has the family right to marry Sarah, and that God intends it. Tobias is frightened, but he trusts his guide. Raguel agrees, a marriage contract is written, and Tobias and Sarah are married. In their room, Tobias burns the fish's heart and liver as Raphael instructed, and the demon flees. Then Tobias and Sarah get up and pray together for God's mercy and protection. Raguel, expecting the worst, has already dug a grave. In the morning a servant finds the couple safe and asleep, and Raguel blesses God and has the grave filled in.

After a two-week wedding feast, during which Raphael fetches the money, they set off for home. Anna has been watching the road. Following Raphael's instructions, Tobias puts the gall on his father's eyes, the white patches peel away, and Tobit sees his son. He weeps, embraces him, and praises God.

When Tobit tries to pay the guide, the angel reveals himself. He is Raphael, sent by God; he brought their prayers before the Lord and was with Tobit when he buried the dead. He tells them to praise God, and then he is gone (12:11–21). His name means "God heals."

Tobit shows God working through ordinary things: a journey, a fish, a family, a marriage. Jesus heals in a similar way, through touch and words, and he still heals through the sacraments, such as the Anointing of the Sick.