Feast of the Archangels, STS. MICHAEL, GABRIEL, RAPHAEL

September 29, Wednesday

TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

 

We know that God loves us, that he protects us and guides us to our destiny. In the Bible, angels are presented God’s messengers to people, to help us to carry out God’s plans. The archangel Michael is mentioned in the last book of the Bible as the angel who leads the fight against the power of evil and who wants God’s work and Christ to overcome all evil. Gabriel is the messenger of the Annunciation; Raphael is the angel companion and healer in the Book of Tobias.

Angels, then, are the sign of God’s guiding love and concern for us. We may not forget today also the many people who help and guide us in many ways by their love and care. They too, are, so to speak, God’s angels to us.

 

First Reading: Rev. 12:7-12

War broke out in Heaven. Michael and his Angels fought the Dragon. The Dragon and his Angels fought back, but were no match for Michael. They were cleared out of Heaven, not a sign of them left. The great Dragon—ancient Serpent, the one called Devil and Satan, the one who led the whole earth astray—thrown out, and all his Angels thrown out with him, thrown down to earth. Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying,

Salvation and power are established!
    Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!
The Accuser of our brothers and sisters thrown out,
    who accused them day and night before God.
They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb
    and the bold word of their witness.
They weren’t in love with themselves;
    they were willing to die for Christ.
So rejoice, O Heavens, and all who live there,
    but doom to earth and sea,
For the Devil’s come down on you with both feet;
    he’s had a great fall;
He’s wild and raging with anger;
    he hasn’t much time and he knows it.

 

Gospel: John1:47-51

When Jesus saw him coming he said, “There’s a real Israelite, not a false bone in his body.”

Nathanael said, “Where did you get that idea? You don’t know me.”

Jesus answered, “One day, long before Philip called you here, I saw you under the fig tree.”

Nathanael exclaimed, “Rabbi! You are the Son of God, the King of Israel!”

Jesus said, “You’ve become a believer simply because I say I saw you one day sitting under the fig tree? You haven’t seen anything yet! Before this is over you’re going to see heaven open and God’s angels descending to the Son of Man and ascending again.”

 

Prayer

Lord our God, you are our providence.
We are sure that you want to guide us to you,
that you want to save us,
that you love each of us personally, as we are,
and that you do everything you can do
to make yourself known to us.
Whatever way you come to us
and whoever your messengers are,
may we recognize you and accept you
and love you in them.
We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Angel of God

Today we celebrate the feast of the Archangels. Neither Michael nor Raphael is mentioned in the Gospels. Gabriel is remembered in the annunciation to Zechariah and to Mary (Lk 1:19-26). This is why the liturgy has chosen a passage that mentions the “angels of God” in general.
“You are an angel!” We all have heard this compliment at least once: from a friend to whom we have given a hand at a difficult time; from an office colleague, delighted in seeing us react to an offense with a smile and calm words, by a married couple we helped to reconcile.
An angel is not just a figure of speech, or an image, or a metaphor; instead, it is a reality— tell the Word of God.

Bible introduces an angel as someone who acts to fill in a distance. The Hebrew word mal’ak comes from the root la’ak which means “to send.” It is attributed to anyone who is sent to convey a message, gather information or take a specific action in the name of an agent. The Bible does not make any distinction between agents of people and agents of God. Anyone who goes between people or between distant communities or between God and people is called mal’ak—angel.

The feast of the archangels is an invitation for us to turn around and to recognize the angels who are at our side. They do not move with wings, but guide with caution; they do not wear a bright robe, but the sari of Mother Teresa, the gown of a doctor, the worker’s suit. And if they do not have shoes it is because they removed them to offer them to the poor.

The Gospel presents a reference to Jacob’s ladder of the Old Testament when Jesus tells Nathanael that he would see the “angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” The ladder that Jacob dreamed about is now replaced in the New Testament with a new figure – the Son of Man Jesus himself.

Now we understand: Jesus is the ladder that God has sent down to us and that allows us to climb up to heaven (Jn 3:13). He is the only mediator between heaven and earth (1 Tim 2:4). And the angels are all those who help people on earth to be united to God – they bring the divine in the world, and people back to God.

These angels bridge the gap between God and man. They disturb and provoke disturbances because their mission is to change the hearts and tune them with the projects and dreams of God. The word of God wants to remind everyone that every true disciple of Christ is an angel for his brothers and sisters.

 

Video available on Youtube: Angel of God