September 29, 2025
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and
Raphael, Archangels
Lectionary: 647
Reading
1
As I watched:
Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne.
His clothing was bright as snow,
and the hair on his head as white as wool;
His throne was flames of fire,
with wheels of burning fire.
A surging stream of fire
flowed out from where he sat;
Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.
The court was convened, and the books were opened.
As the visions during the night continued, I saw
One like a son of man coming,
on the clouds of heaven;
When he reached the Ancient One
and was presented before him,
He received dominion, glory, and kingship;
nations and peoples of every language serve him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
that shall not be taken away,
his kingship shall not be destroyed.
or
War broke out in
heaven;
Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.
The dragon and its angels fought back,
but they did not prevail
and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,
who is called the Devil and Satan,
who deceived the whole world,
was thrown down to earth,
and its angels were thrown down with it.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
"Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them."
Responsorial
Psalm
R. (1) In
the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple
and give thanks to your name.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth;
for you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
All the kings of the earth shall give thanks to you, O LORD
when they hear the words of your mouth;
And they shall sing of the ways of the LORD
"Great is the glory of the LORD
R. In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Bless the LORD, all you angels,
you ministers, who do his will.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus saw
Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Do you believe
because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092925.cfm
Commentary on Daniel 7:9-10,13-14 or Revelations 12:7-12; John
1:47-51
The Gospel
reading from John is the scene in the beginning of his Gospel where Jesus meets
Nathanael, who has been introduced to him by Philip. Nathanael who had somewhat
sneeringly asked if anything good could come from Nazareth must have been
somewhat surprised to hear Jesus say to him:
Here is
truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!
Of how
many people can that be said (including ourselves)?
Puzzled,
Nathanael asks Jesus:
Where
did you get to know me?
Rather
enigmatically Jesus tells him:
I saw
you under the fig tree before Philip called you.
The fig
tree was often seen as a symbol of messianic peace. They were words, then, of
commendation. Nathanael, deeply impressed, tells Jesus:
Rabbi,
you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!
This declaration
is on a par with Peter’s confession of Jesus’ identity, and concludes the list
of Jesus’ titles which are given in this first chapter of John.
And yet
Jesus says he will see much more:
Do you
believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see
greater things than these…Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.
The
allusion is clearly to the dream of Jacob who saw God’s angel-messengers going
up and down on a ladder linking Heaven with Earth, God with his People. Jesus,
as the Incarnate Son of God is the bridge which links God with his People. He
is like a ladder by which God comes to his People and his People go to God.
In a sense
Jesus is the Archangel of archangels, the Ultimate Messenger of God’s Truth and
Love. Through Him God comes to us, and through Him we go to God.
There is a
choice of two First Readings. The first is from the Book of Daniel and speaks
of a vision that the prophet has of God on his Throne, which is described in
graphic and apocalyptic language. Among other things we are told that:
A
thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood
attending him.
These are
the angels who serve at God’s throne.
The second
part of this reading is taken from the New Testament to refer to the Christ,
the Messiah, the Saviour King of Israel. He is said to be:
…one
like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven.
Some
translations have it as “one like the son of man”.
His
dominion is an everlasting dominion that shall not pass away, and his kingship
is one that shall never be destroyed.
This is an
image that the Gospel will use to describe the return of the Risen Jesus at the
end of time as he calls his people to himself (see Matt 25).
The
alternative First Reading is from the Book of Revelation and speaks of Michael
defeating Satan and the powers of evil, which was mentioned above. With the
defeat of Satan:
…come
the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his
Messiah…
These
angels are symbols of God’s ever-loving relationship with us. It is a two-way
communication. We listen to what God tells us and try to make it part of our
lives. At the same time, we reach out to him in faith and trust and in a
complete surrender of our being.
Comments
Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/f0929r/
Monday, September 29, 2025
Feast of Sts Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
Opening Prayer
Father, you show your almighty
power in your mercy and forgiveness.
Continue to fill us with your gifts of love.
Help us to hurry towards the
eternal life your promise and come to share in the joys of your kingdom.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives
and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - John 1: 47-51
When Jesus saw Nathanael coming
he said of him, ‘There, truly, is an Israelite in whom there is no deception.’
Nathanael asked, ‘How do you know
me?’ Jesus replied, ‘Before Philip came to call you, I saw you under the fig
tree.’
Nathanael answered, ‘Rabbi, you are the Son of God, you are
the king of Israel.’ Jesus replied, ‘You
believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You are going
to see greater things than that.’ And then he added, ‘In all truth I tell you,
you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending over
the Son of man.’
Reflection
Today’s Gospel presents the dialogue
between Jesus and Nathanael in which the following phrase appears: “In all
truth I tell you, you will see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and
descending over the Son of man.” This phrase helps to clarify something
concerning the archangels. • John 1: 47-49: The
conversation between Jesus and Nathanael.
Philip took Nathanael
to Jesus (Jn 1: 45-46). Nathanael had exclaimed: “Can anything good come from
Nazareth?” Nathanael was from Cana, which was close to Nazareth. Seeing
Nathanael, Jesus said: “There, truly is an Israelite in whom there is no
deception!” And he affirms that he knew him already when he was under the fig
tree. How could Nathanael be an “authentic Israelite,” if he did not accept
Jesus as Messiah? Nathanael “was under the fig tree.” The fig tree was the
symbol of Israel (cf. Mq 4: 4; Zc 3: 10; 1K 5: 5). “To be under the fig tree”
was the same as being faithful to the project of the God of Israel. The
authentic Israelite is the one who knows how to detach himself from his own ideas
when he perceives that these are not in agreement with God’s project. The
Israelite who is not ready to converse is neither authentic nor honest.
Nathanael is authentic. He expected the Messiah according to the official
teaching of that time, according to which the Messiah came from Bethlehem in
Judea. The Messiah could not come from Nazareth in Galilee (Jn 7: 41-42, 52).
This is why Nathanael resists himself to accept Jesus as Messiah. But the
encounter with Jesus helps him to become aware that God’s project is not always
as persons imagine it or desire that it be Nathanael recognizes his own
deception, he changes idea, accepts Jesus as Messiah and confesses: “Rabbi, you
are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!”
•
The diversity of the call.
The Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke present the call of
the first disciples in quite a brief way: Jesus walks along the seashore, and
he calls Peter and Andrew. Then he calls John and James (Mk 1: 16-20). The
Gospel of John has a different way of describing the beginning of the first
community which was formed around Jesus. John does it by narrating very
concrete stories. One is struck by the variety of the calls and of the
encounters of persons among themselves and with Jesus. Thus, John teaches what
is necessary to do to begin a community. It is by means of contacts and
personal invitations, and it is like that even today! Jesus calls some directly
(Jn 1: 43). Others indirectly (Jn 1: 41-42). One day he called two disciples of
John the Baptist (Jn 1: 39). The following day he called Philip who, in turn,
called Nathanael (Jn 1: 45). No call is repeated because every person is
diverse. People will never forget the important calls which have marked their
life. One even remembers the hour and the day (Jn 1: 39).
•
John 1: 50-51: The angels of God who descend and
ascend on the Son of Man.
The confession of Nathanael is only
at the beginning. Anyone who is faithful, will se heaven open and the angels
who go up and descend on the Son of Man. They will experience that Jesus is the
new bond of union between God and us, human beings. It is the realization of
the dream of Jacob (Gn 28: 10-
22).
•
The angels who go up and descend the ladder.
The three Archangels: Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael.
Gabriel explained to Prophet Daniel the meaning of the vision (Dn 8: 16; 9:
21). The angel Gabriel also took God’s message to Elizabeth (Lk 1: 19) and to
Mary, the Mother of Jesus (Lk 1: 26). His name means “God is strong.” Raphael
appears in the Book of Tobit. He accompanies Tobias, the son of Tobit and of
Anna, throughout the trip and protects him from all danger. He helps Tobias to
liberate Sara from the evil spirit and to cure Tobit, his father, from his
blindness. His name means “God heals.” Michael helped the Prophet Daniel in his
struggles and difficulties (Dn 10: 13, 21; 12: 1). The letter of Jude says that
Michael disputed with the devil over the body of Moses (Jude 1: 9). It was
Michael who obtained victory over Satan, throwing him out of Heaven and
throwing him into hell (RV 12: 7). His name means: “Who is like God!” The word
‘angel’ means messenger. He takes a message from God. In the Bible, the entire
nature could be the messenger of God himself, when it turns its face on us and
reveals God’s love for us (Ps 104: 4). The angel can be God himself, when he
turns his face on us and reveals his loving presence to us.
Personal Questions
•
Have you already had some encounter which has
marked your whole life? How have you discovered there the call of God?
•
Have you been interested, sometimes, like
Philip, to call another person to participate in the community?
Concluding Prayer
I thank you, Yahweh, with all my heart, for you have listened
to the cry I uttered.
In the presence of angels I sing to you,
I bow down before your holy Temple. (Ps 138: 1-2)
Saints
Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels
There are
few explicit references to angels in the earlier books of the Hebrew Bible (our
Old Testament). The word ‘angel’ comes from the Greek angelos and
simply means a ‘messenger’.
They begin
to appear in the later books, for instance, in the Book of Daniel, and seem to
date from after the Babylonian exile. However, in chapters 18 and 19 of the
Book of Genesis, there are the three men who visit Abraham, who gives them
hospitality. One of them seems to be Yahweh and the other two angels. While
Yahweh stays with Abraham, the other two go on to Sodom. There they are
received by Lot and while in his house, the people of Sodom come and demand to
have intimacies with his visitors. The next day, the visitors urge Lot to leave
Sodom with his wife and two daughters. The city, along with Gomorrah is then
destroyed.
As well,
angels are mentioned in the story of Jacob, who had a dream of “angels of God
ascending and descending” a stairway or ladder which reached to the heavens
(Gen 28:12).
According
to some Jewish texts, there were seven archangels, three of whom we remember in
today’s feast—Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
Angels are
mentioned frequently in the New Testament. Angels brought messages to Mary,
Joseph, Zechariah (father of John the Baptist) and the shepherds at Bethlehem.
There were angels ministering to Jesus during his fasting in the wilderness,
consoling him during his Agony in the Garden, and standing at the tomb of Jesus
after his resurrection. And it was an angel who freed Peter from prison in the
Acts of the Apostles.
Only two
references are made to ‘archangels’ in the New Testament—Michael in Jude 1:9, 1
Thessalonians 4:16 and Revelation 12:7-9; and Gabriel in Luke 1:26.
Michael
In Jude, the author is speaking against false teachers. He says they behave
immorally and revile God’s “glorious ones”, perhaps a reference to angels. But
unlike them, Michael in his dispute with Satan over the body of Moses never
spoke judgement against him, but left it to God’s own decision.
In the
First Letter to the Thessalonians, Paul is speaking about the Second Coming of
Christ which he believes will come in the lifetime of the present believers. At
that moment:
…the
Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the
sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will
rise first.
(1 Thess 4:16)
The
archangel here is understood to be Michael.
In the
Book of Revelation chapter 12, in a passage speaking of the power of evil in
opposition to God and his people, we are told:
…war
broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The
dragon [the
powers of evil] and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and
there was no longer any place for them in heaven. (Rev 12:7-9)
Evil could
not prevail and was driven from the presence of God.
In the
Hebrew language, ‘Michael’, means “Who is like unto God?” or “Who is equal to
God?” Michael has been depicted from earliest Christian times as a commander,
who holds in his right hand a spear with which he attacks Lucifer (Satan) and
in his left hand a green palm branch. At the top of the spear there is a linen
ribbon with a red cross.
Gabriel
The archangel Gabriel is mentioned just once in the whole Bible—in the New
Testament (Luke 1:26-38). It is in the lovely scene in Nazareth where he visits
the virgin called Mary and tells her that she will become pregnant, that she
will bear a son who will be called Jesus, and that he will the Son of the Most
High God. Mary, who is betrothed to Joseph, but not yet living with him as his
wife, is alarmed. But she is assured that the Child will be born by the power
of the Holy Spirit. Mary then submits completely and unconditionally to God’s
will:
Here am
I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word. (Luke 1:38)
‘Gabriel’
means “Man of God” or “Might of God”. He is regarded as the herald of the
mysteries of God, especially the Incarnation of God and all other mysteries
related to it. In art, he is depicted holding a lantern with a lighted taper in
his right hand and, in his left, a mirror of green jasper. The mirror signifies
the wisdom of God as a hidden mystery.
Raphael
The archangel Raphael appears in the lovely Book of Tobit (not found in the
Hebrew Testament or many Protestant Bibles). The archangel is the unrecognised
friend of Tobit who goes in search of his inheritance and a bride. The girl he
finds is Sarah. Alarmingly, he discovers that all her previous husbands died on
the wedding night. But God’s blessing was on this relationship. Raphael also
helped Tobit catch the fish whose gall would cure his father’s cataracts and
restore his sight.
‘Raphael’
means “God’s healing” or “God the Healer”, and he is depicted leading Tobit,
who is carrying a fish caught in the Tigris in his right hand and holding a
physician’s alabaster jar in his left.
Comments
Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/f0929s/
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét