20200929 SPIRITUAL WARFARE
29 September, 2020, Tuesday, Sts Michael, Gabriel and Raphael
Readings at Mass
Liturgical Colour: White.
First reading |
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 © |
His robe was white as snow
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.
I gazed into the visions of the night.
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.
Responsorial Psalm |
Psalm 137(138):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 © |
You will see heaven laid open, and the Son of Man
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. 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.’
SPIRITUAL WARFARE
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [DANIEL 7:9-10,13-14 (OR REV 12:7-12A); JOHN 1:47-51 ]
Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. When we speak about angels, we must also speak about devils because they are fallen angels. It is not possible for us to affirm our faith in angels if we do not believe in the existence of angels. If we do not believe in the existence of angels as well, we cannot also believe in the existence of God, since God is pure spirit. Neither can we accept that man has an immortal soul since believing in the existence of the soul means to believe in the spirit. This feast therefore has serious implications for our faith, not just in angels, but in the devils, in God and in our nature as human beings, created with a body, soul and spirit.
Hence, it is important for us to affirm the existence of angels and the devils because they are pure spiritual beings created by God. The reading taken from the Book of Revelation speaks of the battle between the archangel Michael with his angels and the Devil and his fallen angels in heaven. Satan is symbolized by the dragon. “They were defeated and driven out of heaven. 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.” Consequently, it is the Church’s teaching that God allowed the devil and his spirits on earth to test and tempt man. The angels and the devils are real, as much of Jesus’ ministry was involved battling with the Evil One and his fallen angels. Christ never doubted the existence of evil spirits.
If the world today dismisses the reality of Satan and the Evil One as mythological figures because they cannot be proven empirically, it is surely the greatest deception of the Evil One. The Devil wants us to think that he and his fallen angels do not exist so that we will not be alert or be on the defensive. The evil spirits want to work on us quietly, tempting us, corrupting our minds and thoughts, leading us to do evil, so that we will be their agents to destroy the world, the time immemorial institutions and values. In this way, the Devil hopes to confuse the world through relativism. This is what the Book of Revelation says. They have been hurled down to the earth to deceive the world. Jesus called the Devil the Father of lies. “He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (Jn 8:44) Indeed, the devil is lurking around as St Peter warns us, “Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.” (1 Pt 5:8f)
St Paul reminds us that “our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.” (Eph 6:12f) This is no less true in our days when the work of the Evil One is so subtle. The influence of evil is seen all over in the world today. Governments, world leaders, corporate and even religious leaders are being used by the Evil One to sow division among peoples, hatred and resentment. They are used to promote values that are against the good of humanity, peace, joy and love. Instead of promoting eternal values of the Spirit which St Paul says are “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control”, they sow the spirit of the flesh, “fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing.” (Gal 5:19f)
How, then, can we battle against Satan and his angels? We must employ the help of the Archangels. What better way than to solicit the help of the archangels since we are not strong enough to fight against pure spirits as they are of higher intelligence and power than us? This is why the Church encourages us to pray the Angelus every day in the morning, at noon and in the evening. The Angelus evokes the prayers of the angels and at the same time evokes the Incarnation of our Lord. This means that if we want to win the battle against the fallen angels, we must appeal to the angels’ powerful intercession and example, and of course find strength in the Incarnation of our Lord in the womb of the Virgin Mary.
Indeed, the angels are very closely associated with our Lord Jesus Christ in His incarnation. It was through the Angel Gabriel that the message of salvation was brought to the world. The archangel Gabriel is known as the messenger of the Lord. Gabriel means the “strength of God” or the “the Lord is a great warrior. ” He is the one who brought the news to Mary and accepted her decision on God’s behalf. He is the harbinger of Good News. We too must learn from the angel Gabriel to be messengers of God. We must announce the Good News of our Lord Jesus, welcome or unwelcome to all. This includes of course announcing the truth which not many like to hear, especially the call to conversion. Most want to hear only encouraging and consoling words. Regardless, the gospel must be preached whole and in its entirety, without leaving out anything the Lord wants us to speak.
We must also turn to the archangel Michael. Michael’s name means “Who is like God?” He is known as the Protector. He defended the sovereignty of God’s kingdom and His name and helped to expel the rebellious Lucifer and his angels from heaven. For this reason, the Church asks us to pray to St Michael for protection from the Evil One. Especially in our times today when the human person has become so arrogant as to replace God with himself. The world wants to make God disappear so that they can become great. This is the greatest deception of atheism, that the worship of God makes us less human and makes us slaves. On the contrary, the loss of faith in God makes us lose our dignity and our security and true freedom. For those who are pro-life activists, they need to pray to St Michael to protect the innocent ones who bear the image of God. We must guard against the disunity the devil sows among the disciples of Christ, especially in the Christian communities. We all should pray the Prayer of St Michael daily to ask for his intercession in protecting us from the snares of the Evil One.
We must also pray to the archangel, Raphael whose name means “the Lord heals.” We read in the Old Testament how the angel Raphael helped Tobias’ wife, Sarah, to be freed of the evil spirits and healed the blindness of Tobit. The archangel helped Tobias to achieve a purity of love with Sarah his future wife. We too require all kinds of healing today, from sickness, family wounds and quarrels, marriage disagreements and difficulties in courtship and relationships. Indeed, because we fall into the sin of infidelity, we cause our marriage and family to break apart. We turn to St Raphael to intervene and guide us in our vocation in life, especially in relationships. Most of all, when the world lives in darkness and blindness to the truth and the gospel, we must ask St Raphael to heal the blindness of the world. Our love for the world and ourselves has blinded us to the light of God.
Finally, we must realize that ultimately the work of angels is to bring us not to themselves but to God. In the gospel, Jesus so fitting claimed for Himself the fulfillment of the vision of Jacob in the Old Testament. (cf Gn 28:12-17) Jesus told Nathanael that He Himself will be the ladder between Heaven and Earth. He is now the mediator between God and man. Until the coming of Christ, the angels were the intermediaries between God and human beings. They were the bridge between heaven and earth. For us, we know that the sure way to heaven and victory over Satan and his angels is by claiming victory in Christ who is now the dwelling place of God. Sharing in His death and resurrection, and together with the martyrs, we will win ultimate victory over the Evil One and his fallen angels. His resurrection has conferred on us, our adopted sonship in Christ and eternal life with Him.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
No comments:
Post a Comment