20140929 WINNING THE BATTLE AGAINST THE POWER OF DARKNESS
First
reading
Daniel
7:9-10,13-14 ©
As
I watched:
Thrones
were set in place
and
one of great age took his seat.
His
robe was white as snow,
the
hair of his head as pure as wool.
His
throne was a blaze of flames,
its
wheels were a burning fire.
A
stream of fire poured out,
issuing
from his presence.
A
thousand thousand waited on him,
ten
thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
A
court was held
and
the books were opened.
And
I saw, coming on the clouds of heaven,
one
like a son of man.
He
came to the one of great age
and
was led into his presence.
On
him was conferred sovereignty,
glory
and kingship,
and
men of all peoples, nations and languages became his servants.
His
sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty
which
shall never pass away,
nor
will his empire ever be destroyed.
OR:
Alternative
First reading
Apocalypse
12:7-12 ©
Now
war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the dragon. The
dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and driven out of
heaven. The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan,
who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels
were hurled down with him. Then I heard a voice shout from heaven, ‘Victory and
power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his
Christ, now that the persecutor, who accused our brothers day and night before
our God, has been brought down. They have triumphed over him by the blood of
the Lamb and by the witness of their martyrdom, because even in the face of
death they would not cling to life. Let the heavens rejoice and all who live
there.’
Psalm Psalm 137:1-5 ©
In
the presence of the angels I will bless you, O Lord.
I
thank you, Lord, with all my heart:
you have heard the words of my mouth.
In
the presence of the angels I will bless you.
I will adore before your holy temple.
In
the presence of the angels I will bless you, O Lord.
I
thank you for your faithfulness and love,
which excel all we ever knew of you.
On
the day I called, you answered;
you increased the strength of my soul.
In
the presence of the angels I will bless you, O Lord.
All
earth’s kings shall thank you
when they hear the words of your mouth.
They
shall sing of the Lord’s ways:
‘How great is the glory of the Lord!’
In
the presence of the angels I will bless you, O Lord.
Gospel
Acclamation Ps102:21
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Give
thanks to the Lord, all his hosts,
his
servants who do his will.
Alleluia!
Gospel John 1:47-51 ©
When
Jesus saw Nathanael coming he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves
the name, incapable of deceit.’ ‘How do you know me?’ said Nathanael ‘Before
Philip came to call you,’ said Jesus ‘I saw you under the fig tree.’ Nathanael
answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.’ Jesus
replied, ‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree.
so You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added ‘I tell you most
solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels
of God ascending and descending.’
WINNING
THE BATTLE AGAINST THE POWER OF DARKNESS
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: DANIEL 7:9-10, 13-14 OR REVELATIONS 12:7-12A; JOHN 1:47-51
http://www.universalis.com/20140929/mass.htm
The mission of Jesus
must be seen in the context of the battle between light and darkness, the kingdom of God versus the kingdom
of Satan. The purpose of Jesus’ coming is to restore the world under the
reign of God. In all the four gospels, particularly in St John’s gospel,
we see how this battle between the devil and Jesus gradually unfolded,
beginning with the Temptation of Jesus in the desert at the very beginning of
His ministry and resurfacing again at the Garden of Gethsemane until the cross.
Who are the Devil and
his angels? Are they
mythical? Many in this secularized world, where the Sacred is hardly
felt, can no longer sense the presence of the evil spirits, much less the
presence of God. At any rate, if one does not believe in devils, one
cannot also believe in the existence of angels. Conversely, faith in the
existence of angels is the presupposition for belief in the existence of the
devil and his angels, since the devil is the chief among the fallen
angels. The first reading from the Book of Revelation records this event
thus, “Now war broke out in heaven, when Michael with his angels attacked the
dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and
driven out of heaven.”
Faith in the angels
therefore cannot be rendered as something superstitious or mythical. The presence of angels is testified
in scriptures. In the psalm, we read, “I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
with all my heart, for you have heard the words of my mouth; in the presence of
the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy temple and give
thanks to your name.” Jesus Himself presumed the existence of the angels
and the devils. He said, “I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven
laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and
descending.” According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the
existence of angels “is a truth of faith” based on Scripture and the Tradition
of the Church. “The angels are servants and messengers of God, because they
‘always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven’ (Mt 18:10), ‘they are
the mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word’
(Ps103:20) (CCC 329). Quoting St Basil, the Catechism states that “Beside each
believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.”
How then do we fight
this battle against unseen evil spirits? Firstly, we must study the
tactics of Satan and his fallen spirits. Scripture tells us that it is primarily
through deception and lies that the devil leads us astray from God and from the
truth. The Book of Revelation describes “the great dragon, the primeval
serpent, known as the devil of Satan, who had deceived all the world, was
hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him.” In the
gospel, Jesus without mincing His words told the religious leaders, “You are of
your father the devil … he is a liar and the father of lies. (Jn 8:44,45)
The irony of the strategy of the devil is that after tempting us to sin, he
becomes our accuser. Again the Book of Revelation says, “Victory and
power and empire for ever have been won by our God, and all authority for his
Christ, now that the persecutor, who accused our brothers day and night before
our God, has been brought down.” In Christ our sins have all been
forgiven but in reality few of us truly believe in our hearts that God could
forgive us so easily without conditions. By accusing us of our sins, the
devil wants us to fall into self-hatred thereby leading us to depression and
hopelessness because we feel unworthy of God.
Hence, in celebrating the
feast of the Archangels, the scripture assures us of our victory against
Satan and his allies. The victory over the Evil One is certain
because of Christ. “On him was conferred sovereignty, glory and kingship,
and men of all peoples, nations and languages become his servants. His
sovereignty is an eternal sovereignty which shall never pass away, nor will his
empire ever be destroyed.” So we need not fear the Devil even though he
is more powerful than us because he is pure spirit. But with Christ, we
have won victory over Satan and all his works. This victory is made
possible because of the death and resurrection of Christ.
However this victory won
for us objectively by Christ in the paschal mystery must now be made
subjectively our own.
We must continue this battle against the Evil One in Christ. This is what
St Paul is urging us in his letter to the Ephesians. He wrote, “Finally,
be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of
God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the
authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual
forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full
armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your
ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” (Eph 6:10-13)
Besides wearing the
spiritual armor when fighting against the devil, we must be ready to die
with Jesus to our sins. The Book of Revelation tells us how this
victory was won by the Church, “They have triumphed over him by the blood of
the Lamb and by the witness of their martyrdom, because even in the face of
death they would not cling to life.” St Paul urges us to “Stand firm
then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of
righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that
comes from the gospel of peace.” (Eph 6:14-15) The trouble with those of
us who are under some form of obsession or oppression from the devil and the
evil spirits is that although they desire to be delivered from them, many do
not seriously undertake to put their life in order after the deliverance has
taken place. As a consequence, they are unable to free themselves from
the harassment of the Evil One.
Positively, today we are
called to be angels by imitating the role of the Archangels. From
them we learn that the best way to avoid being harassed by the evil spirits is
to work for God and use our lives for the service of His people. Like the
Archangels, we are called to “be like God “as in St Michael, or to be Raphael
which means “God has healed” or Gabriel, the “power of God.” To be angels
therefore is to make ourselves the face and messenger of God by being His likeness
and image to others, by being a healer especially in relationships and be seen
as the place where God works in and through us. Like St Michael, we are
called to be Protector; and like Raphael, His healer and Gabriel, His
messenger. Indeed, this is what it means to celebrate this feast since,
after all, the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. We
can be angels to each other so long as we become God’s messenger in serving
Him.
Like the archangels, we
cannot depend on ourselves but find the source in God alone, as Michael did, since Michael means
“Who is like God”; Gabriel “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s
Remedy”. Whatever St Michael did, he claimed no credit because he knew
that his action by his very name denotes that no one can do what God does by
his superior power. We must be weary that it was pride that led Lucifer
to fall. Hence, in the fight against the devil and his angels, we must
pray. So, too, Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary
and through God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord. Finally,
those of us in the healing ministry can learn from Raphael who is God’s remedy,
since he touched Tobit’s eyes to cure him from his blindness. If we want to be
a healing instrument of the Lord, we do not heal by our own strength or by some
impersonal force in nature, as in the New Age Movement, but solely by the power
that comes from God alone.
If prayers to the saints
are possible, then it is also important that we too must ask the angels to intercede
for us since they too are created creatures of God and assist at the throne of
God. We too must call upon the help of the angels. Angels bring
our petitions to the Lord and they are intermediaries between heaven and
earth. Just as the angels assisted Jesus in the ministry and that of the
apostles, they too can assist us in our lives, provided we have faith in them
and make them our personal intercessors and guardians. Faith in Jesus
enables us to do the work of the archangels, for we too become His
collaborators. “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do
what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am
going to the Father.” (Jn 14:12)
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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