The first reading from this morning reminds us that the spiritual battle is real. First, we see the scene from the book of Revelation in which Michael leads the armies of God’s angels to fight the devil and his demons.
I want to talk about Saint Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael for a moment. Michael, as we can see from the scene described by John, is the warrior. It means “who is like God.” It’s more of a question but also a rallying war cry! By his very name and nature, Michael declares the glory of God and reminds us that no created thing can ever compare to the uncreated Father of us all. We as a community, pray the St. Michael prayer often, and in it, we say: “and do thou, Oh Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.”
That reminds us that God wants to fight for us. He sends His angels to defend us in battle. Michael is the patron Saint of security forces and the sick.
Next, we have Gabriel, who is the messenger. His name means “God has shown His might.” He is the one who announced Jesus to Mary, who taught Moses in the wilderness, who approached the women at the tomb. Gabriel shows us that in all of this, the strength of God is Jesus Christ. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Gabriel was the one who ministered to Jesus to remind us that He is the focus, God’s strength is in sacrifice, in service. Gabriel is the patron Saint of messengers, communication, and postal workers.
Then we have Raphael. “God has healed.” Raphael is the one who healed Tobit’s eyes, and he is the one who stirred the waters at the healing pool of Bethesda. Some ancient Jewish writings show Raphael as being “set over all the diseases and wounds of the earth.” He is the patron Saint of travelers and the blind.
God wants to do three things for us:
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- He wants to protect us.
- He wants to spread the good news of the Gospel.
- He wants to heal and guide us along the way.
With that in mind, we look at this interesting line from the Gospel. Jesus says: “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” To anyone listening, it would have reminded them of Jacob’s later from the book of Genesis. Jacob had stopped to rest for the night, sleeping with a rock for a pillow. In a dream, he saw a ladder extending to Heaven, and the angels of God were descending and ascending upon it. Why is this important? Jacobs responds to the dream: “How full of awe is this place! this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.”
Jesus, in His statement to Nathanael, was revealing that He was Jacob’s later. One Jewish teaching about this vision from the old testament is that Jacob had this dream on the same place on Mount Moriah, the future home of the Temple in Jerusalem. The temple was considered the bridge between man and God, the place where Heaven and Earth met. A place of divine encounter where humanity could experience the divine. Jesus refers to Himself as the temple, so this makes sense. The early church fathers also saw in it a reminder of the need for discipline and virtue. That only through a life of asceticism and penance could we ever hope to unite ourselves to Jesus and be able to ascend into Heaven.
St. John Cyrsostom wrote: And so mounting as it were by steps, let us get to Heaven by Jacob’s ladder. For the ladder seems to me to signify in a riddle by that vision the gradual ascent through virtue, by which we can ascend from earth to Heaven, not using material steps, but improvement and correction of manners.”
Jesus is the gate to Heaven, the very house of God. Jesus is why we gather here today. We are the body of Christ, and in a few moments, we will receive the Eucharist. Jesus Christ Himself, body, soul, and divinity. It is in Him and through Him that we receive the protection of the countless hosts of angels. His divine life is how the battle against our sin is won and is the key to the first scripture. The scripture says: “They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb.” It is Jesus’ victory of sin and death that we can trust that God has our backs, but it’s also up to us to begin to live as if we believe this to be true.
We do that by living our lives with discipline. Then, we turn to Jesus Christ in the Sacraments for the grace necessary to overcome our faults.
We seek the prayers of the heavenly host and ask for angels to guide and protect us on our way. All of this that we might grow to be more like our Lord Jesus Christ and less like the world.
A reflection for the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels: September 29th, 2021