20210929 SPIRITUAL WARFARE
29 September, 2021, Wednesday, Sts Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels
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: [ DAN 7:9-10,13-14 (OR REV 12:7-12A); JN 1:47-51]
Whilst there are lights brought about by scientific and technological advances, social communication, globalization and migration, we see the dark trends in the world. Society is changing rapidly. Family life and marriage are under threat as humanity no longer understands how marriage and family life is the bedrock of society. In a world of amorality, universal age-old values are no longer seen as positive values to uphold. What is promoted today is fulfilment of self, sensually, physically, materially. Nothing is wrong. Everything is permissible unless the law of the land prohibits. But we can try to change the law of the land through demonstration, political and social manipulation, social media. Today, the world is focused on a narrow understanding of individualism. It is about me, my pleasures, my needs and my happiness, without due regard for the communitarian needs.
Indeed, the worship of self, which is the real idolatry in the world today, is the combination of the work of the Devil, the world and our human flesh. The world has been deceived by the promptings of the Evil One into believing that power, success, pleasure, glory and self-indulgence is the way to happiness. Humanity is also easily tempted by the world because of the weakness of the human flesh which seeks comfort and physical satisfaction. We are afraid of pain and inconvenience. This is why we give in so easily to the sensual and material temptations.
This battle between good and evil, truth and falsehood is real, as the Bible says. “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 of Satan, who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him.” It is a primaeval battle that began in heaven and continues on earth. The angels were created to be good and holy to serve God and be His messengers. They are pure spirits and act as God’s intermediary to the world. They are called to serve God and assist humanity, to guide and guard them.
But tradition tells us that they were proud and wanted to be on their own without God. They were bewitched by their supernatural powers and sought to deny the sovereignty of God. (2 Enoch 29:4,5) In the prophet Isaiah, the reason for the fall of the angels was hinted at, with reference to one of the gods of Babylon, the god of the morning star who rebelled against god and was cast down from heaven. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.” (Is14:12-14) Indeed, pride was the greatest sin of Satan and his fallen angels. Once cast out of heaven, his dwelling place became the air in which he roamed the earth and hence St Paul described them as “the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.” (Eph 2:2)
This explains why the sin of pride prevails in the world. It is the most insidious of all sins. It causes man to think highly of himself, to believe that he is the answer to all the problems in the world. He seeks to find his own happiness. In his mind, there is no God except himself. Because he listens to no one, he decides what is good for himself. Not only does he deceive and mislead himself but all those under his charge because he has been blinded by pride and by the promptings of the Evil One. In his egotism, he seeks to be the most powerful, the richest, the most famous, thinking he will find happiness and security. Little does he know that whatever he achieves will be lost in the event of illness, accident and death. In the face of illness and death, he shows himself to be totally powerless. He has been deceived by the Evil One, for that is the work of the Devil, to deceive us because he is the Father of lies.
But the greatest lie of the Evil One is to make us believe that he does not exist so that he could tempt us unseen, undisturbed and unopposed. The devil has hoodwinked the world into believing that devils and angels are mythological figures. They are not real, not tangible, not empirical and so they do not exist accept in our minds. This is why today angels and devils are relegated to the realm of superstitions and fantasy. Halloween, originally a Christian festival to prepare Catholics to celebrate All Saints and All Souls Day, is now celebrated by the world to mock the Catholic belief in spirits. So on this day, people would dress up as all kinds of weird characters, as ghosts and the Devil, and frighten each other by playing tricks just to underscore that such beliefs are kids’ play. In this way, the devil and his angels can work in us, confuse and unsettle us covertly, without our awareness.
And of course, if the devil does not exist, the angels also do not exist since the devil and his minions are supposedly fallen angels. And if the angels do not exist, then God also cannot exist as He is pure Spirit. And if there are no spirits, then we are constituted purely of matter. We have no soul, no spirit. When we die, we disappear from the world. There is no judgment, no life after death, no retribution. So, we can live our life as we like. Make the best of it. Enjoy as much as we can. Live for oneself, since we only live once.
Today, as we celebrate the Feast of the Archangels, we must join them in the battle against sin, evil and annihilation of humanity and the world. St Michael is our protector, St Gabriel, the messenger of Good News and St Raphael, the healer of souls and body. We must implore their assistance in our battle against the evil spiritual forces at work in the world today. St Paul makes it clear 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.” (Eph 6:12) This is why we must “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Eph 6:10f)
Today’s feast tells us we do not fight alone. We fight with all the archangels and the angels in our battle against sin, evil and darkness. With Christ’s death and resurrection, He has opened the gates of heaven, where we see “the angels of God ascending and descending.” We can be certain of ultimate victory over the evil one because He has forgiven our sins and no longer condemns us, unlike the Evil One. “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.”
But this battle will cost our lives because we might have to face martyrdom in speaking the truth. Like the early Christians, “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.” Like Nathaniel, we must seek the Lord in sincerity under the fig tree of prayer, meditation and contemplation. Nathaniel, unlike the devil, was a man without deceit. We who live by the truth and in the values of the gospel will shine like stars and angels to those around us. Through our testimony to Christ, we will be angels to the world and especially to our fellow Christians in our battle against the darkness and deceptions of the world and the Evil One.
Written by The Most Rev William Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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