The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today invite us to contemplate our experience of assistance in our journey from angelic sources.
Nudged by angels
The reading from the Book of Revelation describes how the Archangel Michael defeats the Dragon.
* [12:7–12] Michael, mentioned only here in Revelation, wins a victory over the dragon. A hymn of praise follows.* [12:7] Michael: the archangel, guardian and champion of Israel; cf. Dn 10:13, 21; 12:1; Jude 9. In Hebrew, the name Michael means “Who can compare with God?”; cf. Rev 13:4.1
The reading from the Book of Daniel is a vision of judgement before the Ancient One.
* [7:9–10] A vision of the heavenly throne of God (the Ancient of Days), who sits in judgment over the nations. Some of the details of the vision, depicting the divine majesty and omnipotence, are to be found in Ezekiel 1. Others are paralleled in 1 Enoch, a contemporary Jewish apocalypse.2
Psalm 138 offers thanksgiving and praise to God.
* [Psalm 138] A thanksgiving to God, who came to the rescue of the psalmist. Divine rescue was not the result of the psalmist’s virtues but of God’s loving fidelity (Ps 138:1–3). The act is not a private transaction but a public act that stirs the surrounding nations to praise God’s greatness and care for the people (Ps 138:4–6). The psalmist, having experienced salvation, trusts that God will always be there in moments of danger (Ps 138:7–8).3
In the Gospel of John, Jesus tells Nathanael ‘Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.’
* [1:49] Son of God: this title is used in the Old Testament, among other ways, as a title of adoption for the Davidic king (2 Sm 7:14; Ps 2:7; 89:27), and thus here, with King of Israel, in a messianic sense. For the evangelist, Son of God also points to Jesus’ divinity (cf. Jn 20:28).4
Nicky Santos, S.J. notes that during his papacy, Pope Francis has affirmed the existence of guardian angels and has said that these are companions, guardians, and guides that the Lord sends us to help us on our journey of life.
As I reflect on today’s feast, I am reminded of God’s care for me and consoled that I am not alone on the journey of life. Such consolation is much needed during these pandemic days. The mission of the three archangels addresses three needs that I or any of us have. First, the need to be protected from the snares of the evil one, of straying down the wrong path so to speak. Second, the need to have hope, to be reminded of the good news and not just be depressed with the bad news that we constantly hear. And, third, the need for guidance, to make right choices along life’s path. Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, pray for us.5
Don Schwager notes that the rabbis had an expression for comparing the fig tree to being nourished with God's word in Scripture, "He who tends the fig tree will eat its fruit." Don quotes “The Lord of Angels,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).
"Do you see how he [Jesus] leads him [Nathanael] up little by little from the earth and causes him no longer to imagine him as merely a man? For one to whom angels minister and on whom angels ascend and descend, how could he be a man? This is why he said, 'You shall see greater things than these.' And to prove this, he introduces the ministry of angels. What he means is something like this: Does this, O Nathanael, seem to you a great matter, and have you for this confessed me to be King of Israel? What then will you say when you see 'angels ascending and descending on me'? He persuades him by these words to receive him as Lord also of the angels. For on him as on the king's own son, the royal ministers ascended and descended, once at the season of the crucifixion, again at the time of the resurrection and the ascension, and before this also, when they 'came and ministered to him' (Matthew 4:11). They also ascended and descended when they proclaimed the good news of his birth and cried, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace' (Luke 2:14), when they came to Mary and also when they came to Joseph... Our Lord made the present a proof of the future. After the powers he had already shown, Nathanael would readily believe that much more would follow." (excerpt from the Homilies On the Gospel of John 21.1)6
Malcolm Guite outlines Michaelmas and offers a sonnet for St. Michael the Archangel.
Michaelmas gales assail the waning year,
And Michael’s scale is true, his blade is bright.
He strips dead leaves; and leaves the living clear
To flourish in the touch and reach of light.
Archangel bring your balance, help me turn
Upon this turning world with you and dance
In the Great Dance. Draw near, help me discern,
And trace the hidden grace in change and chance.
Angel of fire, Love’s fierce radiance,
Drive through the deep until the steep waves part,
Undo the dragon’s sinuous influence
And pierce the clotted darkness in my heart.
Unchain the child you find there, break the spell
And overthrow the tyrannies of Hell.7
Friar Jude Winkler fleshes out the role of angels in the visions from Daniel and Revelation. We find authenticity in our wrestling with God. Friar Jude reminds us to seek the truth about the mysteries of God.
Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments on the Desert Fathers and Mothers. These individuals in the desert sought to reflect more deeply on the Mystery of God and God’s will through work, prayer, and study of the Scriptures. Thomas Merton (1915–1968) describes their movement.
Society—which meant pagan society, limited by the horizons and prospects of life “in this world”—was regarded by them as a shipwreck from which each single individual had to swim for their life. . . . These were people who believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenets and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply a disaster. The fact that the Emperor was now Christian and that the “world” was coming to know the Cross as a sign of temporal power only strengthened them in their resolve. [1]8
We work, pray and study Scripture on our journey to truth, beauty, and goodness. Angelic assistance nudges us to attend to the promptings of the Spirit along the Way.
References
No comments:
Post a Comment