20220929 ST MICHAEL THE PROTECTOR
29 September, 2022, Thursday, 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.’
ST MICHAEL THE PROTECTOR
SCRIPTURE READINGS: [ DAN 7:9-10, 13-14 (OR REV 12:7-12A); JOHN 1:47-51]
Today is the Feast of the Archangels. However, we will focus particularly on St Michael as suggested in today’s first reading from the book of Apocalypse. More so, for most of us Catholics, we have a special devotion to St Michael, namely, to seek his protection and intercession from the snares of the Evil One. Most Catholics have experienced the powerful shield that St Michael gives us. This is what we read in the first reading. “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.” Indeed, St Michael is often seen as the protector of heaven and of humanity from the attacks of Satan.
The word, “Satan” literally means the Adversary. He has been opposing God right from the start of his existence. He fights against good and seeks to set up his own kingdom without God. How does he do it? What are the weapons of Satan? He brings about division. Wherever and whenever you seek division, there is the work of the devil. He knows that when we are divided, the kingdom cannot stand. “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand.” (Mk 3:24f)
What is the cause of division? Firstly, it is due to pride. The primary reason for the fall of Satan was his pride. He wanted to be like God without God. He was enchanted by his own beauty and intelligence, thinking that he is better than anyone else and that he can be happy without God. This is true for many people today. They are bewitched by their intellect, believing that knowledge, technology and power can change the world and that they can be in charge of their lives or find happiness through material things and pleasures. Relativism and secularism are the expressions of man’s pride and self-importance.
Secondly, pride leads to ambition. Satan was over ambitious. He was serving himself rather than God. Angels, like us, are created to serve God and be His messengers of the Good News and of love. We are created by God to play our role in His divine plan, which is to build a kingdom of love and unity. There is a difference between ambition and vocation. Ambition is about achieving success for oneself. It is about our egoism. Ambition makes us selfish and even intolerable of others’ success. It does not even respect the right means to achieve the end.
Thirdly, Satan thrives on our ignorance; that is the offspring of pride. Many of us, because of our knowledge, think that evil spirits are just a myth. Anything that is not empirically proven we reject. We fail to realize that there is the spiritual world besides the material world. Many of us are misled into thinking that the Devil does not exist because we do not see him. This makes us easy targets and prey of the Evil One because he can work on us, deceiving and tempting us into sin without us being aware of it. We are not alert and watchful of how the Devil is influencing us to sin and evil.
Fourthly, it is due to lies and deception. “The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil of Satan, who had deceived the entire world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him.” If humanity has become so proud and arrogant, it is because we have been deceived by the Evil One. He has led us to believe that happiness has to do with power, riches and status. He has misled us into thinking that because of our knowledge, we know everything in this world and we can do without God. Half-truths and lies are the means by which the Devil confuses us and tempts us to sin. As Jesus said, “He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with 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)
Today when we celebrate the Feast of the Archangels, we are reminded of our role in the history of salvation. Like the angels, we are called to play our part for the good of creation and humanity. We are called to be people who are bridge builders, not dividers! This is what Jesus said to Nathanael, “I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.” In other words, we are called to be like the angels who are intermediaries between God and man. We are to be the ladder for others to come to God. This is our calling in life. All of us in different ways are called to be God’s angels and archangels in the lives of our fellowmen in the building of God’s kingdom.
We have the shining example of Nathanael who is just the opposite of the Devil. We read that first and foremost, he was a man of peace, unlike the devil who brings division. For the Israelites, a man sitting under the fig tree even in the face of problems means that he is at peace and not easily unsettled by the troubles of the world. (cf. Mic 4:4) A man of God is always a man of peace. Jesus said, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Mt 5:9) Those who are always divisive wherever they go, whether in church, in the office or in the family. They are under the influence of the Evil One because he likes to divide and conquer. The Devil is individualistic, selfish, proud and self-centred. He cannot live with anyone. Wherever he is present, there will be quarrels, misunderstanding and discord.
Indeed, to find peace in this world, we need to find peace within ourselves. If we are causing so much division around us, it is because we lack peace in our hearts. If there is a lack of peace, it is because many of us do not sit under the fig tree to pray and contemplate. We are doing many things but we lack self-awareness. Even what we do for the Church becomes an ambition, driven by worldly motives rather from the love of God within us. That explains why even in service, there is so much pride among our priests, religious and laity. There is division when our ego takes the better of us. The lack of collaboration is always because of pride and ambition.
Secondly, we are told that he was a man without deceit, in contrast to the Devil who is the father of lies. “When Jesus saw Nathanael coming, he said of him, ‘There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit.'” This was the greatest compliment Jesus could pay to anyone. In other words, Nathaniel was a man who sought to be true to himself. He was not a hypocrite nor was he unfaithful to himself. All his life, he sought to do the right thing, follow the law and wait for the coming of the messiah and the kingdom of God. What about us? Are we lacking integrity in our lives? If we do, then we are living a lie. Many of us are living a lie, especially in married life. We pretend to be loving and united in marriage or in our organization, but there is so much jealousy, resentment and anger.
So how can we overcome the seductions of the Evil One? Firstly, following Nathaniel, we are called to recognize who the Messiah is. “Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are the King of Israel.” We can conquer the Evil One only through the blood of the Lamb. “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.” We must take note that the one who would accuse us of our sins would be the Devil, not our Lord Jesus Christ. It is the devil who leads us to sin and condemns us every day in our conscience so that we feel totally unworthy and a hopeless sinner, and finally give up on ourselves and on God.
But if we have faith in Jesus, then we know that salvation is not our work and our merits but because of His mercy, forgiveness and love. To be saved by the blood of the Lamb means to be saved by the love of Jesus, His victory over sin and death by His passion on the cross and the resurrection. We are called to cling on to the forgiveness and mercy of God instead of our ego, pride and ambition. We are called to rely on God for strength against the foes of division.
Secondly, this peace comes about through contemplation and prayer. Nathaniel was a man of prayer. The fig tree was a good place to pray and contemplate because its leaves are big and shady. So sitting under the branches of the fig tree provides a wonderful place to pray, especially when there were no air-conditioners in those days. In a special way, as we contemplate on the Word of God and His mercy, we should also solicit the assistance of St Michael to keep the Evil One at bay.
Most of all, the most effective way to fight against the Evil One is to live a good and holy life through a life of martyrdom and self-sacrifice. The evangelist wrote that the triumph was won also “by the witness of their martyrdom, because even in the face of death they would not cling to life.” We are called to be faithful to Christ even unto death. We must live out the life of Christ in contrast to the work of the Evil One. Witnessing to Christ’s love, faithful and humble service to the Lord is the means by which we triumph over sin and division.
Written by His Eminence, Cardinal William SC Goh, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore © All Rights Reserved.
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