Today, with great joy, we celebrate the feast of the Archangels: St Michael, St Gabriel and St Raphael. Perhaps it might strike us as being a bit unusual that the readings today do not mention any of the Archangels specifically. However, our readings today describe the angels that constantly serve God the Father in front of his throne. Our first reading from Daniel states that there are thousands upon thousands were ministering to God the Father, with myriads and myriads attending to him. It does not mention the name “angel,” but we know that the archangels surround the throne of God. The reading also talks about the Son of Man who received an everlasting dominion over all nations and all people. We know of the three archangels from Scripture, about the special tasks to which they were appointed. St Michael the Archangel went to battle against Satan and his demons and cast them out of heaven. St Raphael cured Tobit’s of his blindness in the book of Tobit in the Old Testament. St Gabriel announced to Mary that she would conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, and that he would be God’s own son. The Archangels are special messengers from God. Traditionally in the Catholic Church, we hold a BLUE MASS in conjunction with the feast of the Archangels for our police and our first responders, as St Michael the Archangel is their patron saint. With the COVID-19 pandemic, we are unable to have a large Mass unattended by law enforcement and first responders, but we pray for them in a special way. We at St Jude will be sending pizza to the personnel at the Pearl police department to show our thanks and gratitude; that is something we do periodically. St Michael - St Gabriel - St Raphael - we united our prayers with your prayers today.
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