September 29, 2010
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
By Colleen O’Sullivan
War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, But they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. (Rev. 12:7-8)
“Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” And he said to him, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man. (John 1:50-51)
Piety
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the Divine Power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Study
Today the Church celebrates the fest of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, the Archangels. Saint Michael has traditionally been known as a defender or protector of the saints against the wiles of Satan, as seen in today’s reading from the Book of Revelation; St. Gabriel as a messenger from God, as witnessed in his visitation to Mary in Luke’s Gospel, and St. Raphael as a healer, as depicted in the Book of Tobit.
In the Book of Revelation, John records a series of visions of events on earth. In between the second and third of these, lies today’s account of war breaking out in heaven. Rev. 12 begins with the story of a woman (Mary) being with child (Christ). Satan, depicted as a dragon, has his eye on the destruction of this child as soon as he is born. His desires are thwarted, however, when the child is “caught up to God and his throne.” Not one to give up easily, Satan persists in his desire to rule.
In today’s reading, we witness a monumental battle in heaven, with St. Michael and his angels on one side and Satan and his followers on the other. Satan and his friends lose. They are cast out of heaven and much rejoicing in heaven follows.
But where are Satan and his friends now? Where did they go? Right here! The Scriptures say, “Woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury…” It doesn’t seem to be much in vogue today to talk about the Devil or Satan. In fact, the other day one of my friends asked me, “Do you really believe in the Devil?” in a tone of voice that inferred I was behind the times if I did. No, I don’t believe in the Halloween costume sort of devil, but I know the Evil One is out there still waging his battle every day. He doesn’t rule in heaven, but what better way to continue the battle than by working on Christ’s disciples like you and me? Today’s feast day reminds us, though, that we can always turn to St. Michael for protection and help in our struggles against temptation.
In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is beginning his public ministry by calling people to be his disciples. In the verses preceding today’s reading, Jesus has gone to Galilee and has called Philip to follow him. Philip, in turn, finds Nathanael and tells him that “the one about whom Moses wrote in the law” has been found, but when Nathanael hears that Jesus is from Nazareth, he is very skeptical about the whole thing. Nazareth must have been on the wrong side of the tracks. However, he responds to Philip’s invitation to “come and see.”
From being skeptical, Nathanael moves to proclaiming Jesus the “Son of God” and “the king of Israel,” all seemingly because Jesus had seen him sitting under a fig tree and had recognized in Nathanael a “true Israelite,” an honest person. Jesus tells him that he will see even greater things. “…You will see the sky opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” Hearing Jesus’ words in the context of today’s feast of the Archangels, we, too are reminded that there are greater things to come that we can’t imagine today, among them a whole realm of angelic activity not immediately visible to us.
Action
Take a few minutes today to reflect on times in your life when you have been helped or saved by God’s angels – perhaps a moment when you have faced great temptation and St. Michael the Archangel protected you from the power of the Evil One; some occasion when the Lord called you to do something through the whisper of St. Gabriel the Archangel; or some point in your life when you were ill in body or spirit and were healed through the intervention of St. Raphael the Archangel – and give thanks.
