At the end of Mass on Sundays, before the Final Blessing, Fr. Lincoln asks us to pray together the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel. This prayer was written by Pope Leo XIII and was recited after Low Mass until 1965. Pope John Paul II encouraged the continued recitation of this prayer following Mass to obtain help against the forces of darkness and of the world. The name “Michael” is interesting in itself; it means “who is like God?” Posed as a question, its sarcastic tone is an affront to any of God’s creatures who are blinded by pride – especially the Devil.
There is a similar sarcastic tone in the reading from Isaiah: “To whom can you liken me as an equal? Says the Holy One” (Is 40:25). Today’s reading from Isaiah serves as a reminder that “the LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth” (28). God is not one more thing among all the other things in the universe. God is life itself. God is existence itself. Everything that exists, that lives, lives and exists because God wills it, and yet God is still “beyond” all that is. Yes, “who is like God?”
When we move away from God, we move away from life and existence; this is the essence of the meaning of sin. Sin is death-dealing. God is life-giving. Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God, (Col. 1:15) comes to us to bring us eternal life, eternal existence. He comes to destroy sin and death. He comes because God longs for intimacy with each of us. Yes, “who is like God?”
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