A Note From Fr. Brady
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
This past Friday, we celebrated the feast of the Archangels, in particular, Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Tomorrow, October 2, we will be celebrating the memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels. We are certainly in an angelic time in our Church calendar and so it is a fitting time to recall who the angels are and what their place is in the economy of salvation.
Before God created Adam and Eve, he created the angelic creatures, purely spiritual, intelligent beings that have no body. At some point, God revealed to them his plan to become man in the Person of the Son to save the human race that He was soon to create but that He knew in His omniscience would fall into sin by abusing their gift of free will. He then gave the angels a choice: to serve God and assist with His mission or not. At the prospect of powerful, spiritual beings serving and assisting fallen bodily human creatures, some of the angels led by one of the highest of angels, Lucifer, knowing full well the consequences and definitive nature of their choice, said “Non serviam” (“I will not serve”). The rest of the angels, led by the Archangel Michael, replied “Quis ut Deus” (“Who is like God?”) or, in other words, no one can compare to God and so we will serve Him. In their obstinate disobedience to God, the first group were cast into hell for eternity while the latter group remained in God’s heavenly service forever, some of them being assigned by God to protect and accompany men and women in their earthly life as guardian angels. These obedience angels are thus perfectly given over to adoring God and fulfilling His will. They are in fact God’s messengers who fulfill his providential plan in creation. The very name angel means messenger.
On the feast of the Archangels, we celebrate three particular angels who play a prominent role in the Sacred Scriptures. St. Michael as the prince of the heavenly army wages war against the wickedness and snares of the devil and his demons in the book of Revelation. St. Gabriel brings the greatest message to mankind when he announces to Mary that she will be the mother of the Savior. St. Raphael is the archangel of healing and heals Tobit of his blindness.
All in all, the angels, whether simple angels or any of the other eight ranks of angels, are some of the most powerful intercessors and guardians. Even though we can’t see them with our physical eyes, we see them by faith. At Mass, the angels flock to the altar where the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Christ becomes present. They protect us from harm most times unbeknownst to us. May these two great feast days celebrating the angels remind us of our need to call out to them for their powerful brotherly aid as we walk the path of life on earth in the hope of one day being with them forever in Heaven.
Fr. Brady Keller
