Today, we celebrate the feast day of the three archangels – Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael. We’ve been celebrating the feast day of these three archangels together since 1970, when their feast days were combined together in the revised Roman Catholic calendar after the Second Vatican Council.
Our reading from the book of Revelation today depicts the Archangel Michael defeating Satan and the powers of evil. With the defeat of Satan, salvation and power have come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed – Jesus the Christ. St Michael and the other angels are messengers of God’s loving and merciful relationship with us. The Angels are bearers of Good News to us. They help us conquer evil and sin in our lives. We respond to this message of Good News by answering to God in faith in our thoughts, words, and actions. Indeed, sometimes our lives may seem like we are in the middle of a war that is fought by the angels who are on the side of God as they battle the demons and the evil spirits who seem intent on getting us. St Michael is the Archangel leading us in battle against those evil forces. He is the patron saint of police officers, first responders, the men and women in the military, paratroopers, and fighter pilots. St Michael is the patron saint of our community. When choosing a patron saint, we like the image of St Michael helping us fight off the forces of evil in the world.
A belief in angels in our modern world has gone beyond Christianity. It is popular in our secular world today to believe in angels, to have a belief in the divine messages that the angels deliver to us on behalf of God. In our celebration today, we give thanks for the angels and archangels. In our preface before starting the Eucharistic prayer in the mass today, we proclaim that we join the angels and archangels in their song of praise to the Lord. May we truly feel the praise that we proclaim to the Lord in connection with these heavenly spirits.
In celebrating the feast day of our Catholic community of St Michael the Archangel, I think of how our community has only been around since May. It was during the visit of the Bishop Kopacz on May 13 that we signed the new bi-laws of our community. That is only 4 months ago. It seems like a lot longer, doesn’t it. Back in January, we were not even coming out once a week. Now, the week before last, I was out here four times in one week. We now have two golf carts and a farmer’s market. We have come a long way. The Holy Spirit has guided us. St Michael has guided us. We have a lot to be thankful for today.
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