Tags
archangels, communication, God's protection, guidance, healing, St. Gabriel, St. Michael, St. Raphael, The Sophia Center for Spirituality
Do you believe in angels? Most people are appalled at the question! How could we live without those beings whose presence in Scripture is so clearly significant and who have been with us since we first learned to pray? (“Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.“) People of faith, regardless of religious practice, look to spirits who (for most of us) are not seen in this dense realm but who are always active for our good. The major world religious traditions have a well-developed “angelology” (theology of angels). You can read all about it on the internet! (Just look for “choirs of angels.”)
Today is the feast of three of the most familiar “archangels” in the Judeo-Christian tradition. Michael, the defender of Israel against all enemies leads God’s armies to a final victory in the Book of Revelation and has been celebrated in the Christian West since the fifth century as our greatest help in times of trouble. Gabriel, present in the Hebrew Scriptures in Daniel’s visions, is best known to Christians in the story of the Annunciation to Mary that she is to be the mother of the long-awaited Messiah. Raphael, the third member of this triumvirate, is chronicled only in the Old Testament story of Tobit, but this angelic guide provides evidence of monumental intervention for the good of Tobit’s family – a story not to be missed!
The website www.franciscanmedia.org has a paragraph for the “Saint of the Day” that is, for me, a succinct summary of today’s importance to people of faith.
“Each of the archangels performs a different mission in Scripture. Michael protects; Gabriel announces: Raphael guides. Earlier belief that inexplicable events were due to the actions of spiritual beings has given away to a scientific world-view and a different sense of cause and effect. Yet believers still experience God’s protection, communication, and guidance in ways that defy description. We cannot dismiss angels too lightly.”
Instead of just speaking of a childhood practice of nighttime prayer (“Angel of God, my guardian dear…”) on this feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, I decided to google them and then angels in general. I could spend the day reading with what I found on the internet – some items familiar to me and some totally foreign. I won’t be researching today as other tasks are already calling to me, but I will put it on my list of “to-do” projects, I think, as there is a vast body of information that attests to the reality and functionality of these powerhouses of presence in the spiritual world.
Sometimes it’s difficult to get in touch with all the extraordinary blessings we experience as citizens of a free country. If I stay in the peaceful village where I live and don’t access the outside world through the “marvels” of technology it’s possible to enjoy a picnic or a good book while sitting outside in the sunshine. These days, however, in a political climate that is totally untenable, where hate is blatant and civility is often missing from human discourse, one wonders where it will all end.
On most days I have occasion to say something like: “My mother used to say…” or “My father had a saying for that.” There is no specific incident or situation that brings them to mind with just the right advice – or, in the case of my father, some humorous retort! They are, however, present and at the ready to urge me on. And there are others who have passed from this life whose spirit remains here on earth in vibrant ways that guide me in a moment of need.
I was thinking yesterday how easy it is from here in our lovely, peace-filled location in rural Upstate New York to ignore all the turmoil in the world and in our country. If I don’t wish to allow the distress into my consciousness, I can just avoid watching or listening to or reading the news and go about my days in isolation. While I know that is not a valid choice for me, it is occasionally a temptation. I was reminded this morning of my need to be awake and aware by a page from Meg Wheatley’s book, Perseverance, that I will quote below in its entirety as a call to all of us to resist the pull of inertia in favor of responsible engagement in whatever way we are able to contribute to raising the level of light in the world. (This includes a willingness to discriminate between “fake news” and truth.) The page is entitled Non-Denial. It is not a message to be read quickly and dismissed. I would recommend reading it, as I plan to, several times, and seeking examples from our own life of applications for the message.
A page from Michael Casey’s book Fully Human Fully Divine gave me pause this morning. After a “short night” when sleep evaded me until about 1:30am, I needed some encouragement and it seems I have found it. Perhaps it might set the course for someone else today as well. I’m a little late in “coming to the table” that Casey offers as I’ve already had one cup of coffee, but it’s better late than never for me today. What about you?
One of the first prayers I (and many others) learned as a child was about angels. (Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day (or night) be at my side to light and guard, to rule and guide.) It was great comfort to know that there was a being just over the border of our universe who was God’s gift to me personally. I didn’t have to theologize about it since it was a given and there were three great “Archangels” that we knew by name from Scripture, each with a mission: Michael protected, Gabriel announced and Raphael guided. (See visions in the Book of Daniel and stories from the Book of Tobit.) Why wouldn’t God give me someone to do those things for me? I never needed to name my angel as some children did. It was enough that God knew who was taking care of me.
The Sophia Center for Spirituality 