Thursday, September 29, 2022

 Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels.

(Revelation 12:7-12ab; John 1:47-51)

People called them “orderlies.”  They served in hospitals ready to do any menial task that a doctor, nurse, or administrator mandated.  Angels should be seen as orderlies.  However, they answer to God alone.

There is a reluctance to think of angels today.  They seem redundant when one considers God’s word as almighty.  However, they may be considered the means through which God’s word is carried out, what makes the Word almighty.  They are spiritual beings created precisely to accomplish God’s will.

Today we celebrate three particular angels, called “archangels” for their prominence in Scripture.  Michael is found preeminently in the Book of Revelation where he defeats the Satanic dragon.  Gabriel, of course, announces to Zechariah and to Mary God’s plan of sending His Son to save humans from sin.  Raphael accompanies Tobias to meet his bride and directs him to the fish oil to heal his father.  We can think of God as having countless angels to support us in facing life’s challenges.

Friday, September 29, 2017

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels

(Daniel 7:9-10.13-14; John 1:47-51)

An author was comparing a career to a vocation.  He said that one pursues a career to make money or to become famous.  A vocation, he went on, is not something that we choose but what we are called to do.  Then he listed the many ways different people have experienced a vocation.  Some, he said, feel called in reading a book and others in being at a certain place at a certain time.  He mentioned that some sense being called by God, as if God were just one of many ways that things happen.

This is not what we believe.  We say that God is the author of any real call and that He has any number of ways to make his call known.  The word angel is a one way among many to express how God acts.  Pope St. Gregory the Great made this explicit in a famous sermon.  He said that angels are by nature pure spirits.  They become angels only when God calls them to deliver a message on His behalf.

As God’s agents, angels are benign creatures.  We can thank God for their assistance.  Indeed, the purpose of today’s feast is to praise God who helps us in our every need.  We call on God in sickness and He sends one like Raphael, whose name means God’s remedy to heal us.  We call to God in our weakness and He sends Michael, whose name means like God, to protect us against evil.  And in our sinfulness we call to God, and He sends Gabriel, whose name means God’s strength to announce the coming of Jesus, our Savior.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Feast of Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel and Saint Raphael, archangels

(Daniel 7:9-10.13-14 or Revelation 12:7-12ab; John 1:47-51)

Hester Prynne, the adulteress in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterpiece The Scarlet Letter, had an “A” sewn on her clothes. However, she went about town doing so much good for so long a time that the people began to think that the letter stood for “angel.” Today’s feast of Sts. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael underscores this very humane quality of angels.

One might think of angels as creepy characters. They are pure spirits created by God to perform His work. But in truth we generally think of angels as quite amenable company, like those in the popular television series Touched by an Angel. Of course, it is because God is so good that His messengers can hardly be anything but caring.

Today’s feast celebrates three angels renowned in the Bible. St. Michael is known for his protection against evil. St. Gabriel is seen as the bearer of good news. And St. Raphael is remembered for his coming to the aid of the downtrodden. Together they represent the work of all the heavenly hosts.

Homilette for Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels

(Revelation 12:7-12ab; John 1:47-51)

In Shakespeare’s famous play, Hamlet is alone when his father’s ghost reveals how he was murdered. Then Hamlet’s friends arrive asking what just happened. Before he tells them, Hamlet demands an oath of secrecy. At this point the voice of the ghost chimes in to underscore the need of secrecy. Hearing the voice but seeing nothing, Hamlet’s companion exclaims, “...this is wondrous strange,” to which Hamlet counters, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Like Horatio says of the ghost’s voice, many people find the doctrine of angels “wondrous strange.” Believing that only what they can see and hear actually exists, they doubt the reality of angels. To paraphrase Hamlet, angels are not parts of their philosophy. But we Catholics, who accept a spiritual order of reality, forthrightly admit the doctrine of angels. As Scripture attests in numerous places, angels exist as God’s attendants carrying out His commands.

The stories of the three archangels further reveal how angels extend God’s mercy. Michael wages war against Satan to free humans from tyranny; Gabriel announces the coming of mercy incarnate, Jesus Christ; and Raphael leads Tobias from peril to peace. We should happily admit that God sends angels as means for reaching our eternal destiny.

Homilette for Monday, September 29, 2008

Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels

(Revelation 12:7-12)

When the ghost of his father appears to Hamlet in Shakespeare’s famous play, Hamlet is alone. The ghost then explains to Hamlet how he was murdered. When Hamlet’s friends arrive and ask what news he has, Hamlet demands an oath of secrecy before he will tell them. The voice of the ghost chimes in to underscore the need of swearing secrecy. Hearing that voice, Hamlet’s companion Horatio blurts, “...this is wondrous strange.” The grand protagonist counters, “...There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, then are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Many people today – as, no doubt, in other ages -- find the doctrine of angels “wondrous strange” as Horatio found the ghost’s voice. Believing in only what they can see and hear, they doubt the existence of heavenly spirits. As Hamlet would say, angels are not parts of their philosophy. But we Catholics, who accept the spiritual realm where God dwells, should forthrightly accept the doctrine of angels. As Scripture attests in numerous places, angels exist as attendants to God carrying out His commands.

Today’s feast of the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael really celebrates God’s mercy. As the stories of these angels show, God uses angels to assist humankind. As Michael wages war with Satan, as Gabriel announces the coming of Christ, and as Raphael guides the journeyer Tobias, so God continually sends angels to provide us the means to reach our eternal destination. We can think of angels as God’s loving hand extended to us in need.