After the obligatory feast, there is the question of how to reward Raphael. How do you reward an angel?
After some debate, they decide it would be right to give him half of all the money he collected for them from Gabael.
When they approach him to make this offer, he begins by giving advice. Don’t keep goodness a secret, he tells them. Tell the world what God has done. Don’t be tempted to seek wealth rather than righteousness, but do good always.
Then he reveals his true identity. He tells Tobit that he knows the old man much better than he ever suspected. He has had the job of carrying Tobit’s prayers to God for years, standing beside the old man as he buried his compatriots, not caring if he got into trouble.
And when he is not standing next to Tobit or Sarah, watching their suffering, he is one of the seven angels standing in God’s presence, ready to serve him.
Keep a king’s secret, but don’t keep secret the goodness and mercy of God.
Tobit and Tobias fall to the ground in fear and trembling, but Raphael tells them not to be afraid. God is good.
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