Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Bible Text: “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending upon the Son of Man”. John 1. 47- 51

God knows each one of us, our joys, strengths and weaknesses, our successes and failures, our faith, our intentions, needs, hopes and dreams. In John’s gospel today, Nathanael was surprised that Jesus knew that he was a true Israelite. God loves us too. The Book of Daniel presents a vision of the Son of Man, the One in whom and through whom the salvation of God’s people came to be realized. How eternal, how immense and great is God’s love for us!

But how much do we know God? How much de we love God? We know and love God through prayer and in our relationships with our neighbours. We know and love God through our participation in the sacraments, through reflecting on the Scriptures.

But how about knowing and loving God with the help of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, whose feast we celebrate today. Michael, in Jewish meaning is “who is like God”. He is the protector of the Chosen Peoples, both Christian and Jew, leader of the Heavenly Host against Satan, and protector of Christians at the hour of death. Gabriel- his name means “Strength of God”. He announces the birth of John the Baptist to Zacharias and the birth of Jesus to Mary. Raphael- his name means ““God heals”” so we can ask for his prayers for healing and recovery. Archangel Raphael appears in the Book of Tobit, where he cures Tobit’s blindness by instructing the son Tobias to put the gallbladder of a fish on his father’s eye.

The Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael- they all point us to God, through Jesus Christ, who is our protector, our strength, our hero and our healer. But we, too, have these responsibilities of protecting each other, of strengthening each other, of healing each other.