29 September 2020
Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, archangels
In the Magis reflection that I offered on this feast day two years ago (https://www.magisspirituality.org/ignatian_reflection/18-09-29/), I sketched out the way that the scriptures for today’s feast open our our eyes to the angelic realities that support us in living the life of love that God offers us. In Revelation 12:7-12, we hear how Michael and his angels fight “the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world,” and how the good angels defeat the evil ones, throwing them down to earth together with their leader, who is, “the accuser of our brothers… who accuses them before our God day and night.”
We can be uncharitable and quick to condemn our brothers if we forget that the evil of powers and principalities, manifest in so many structures, is not merely of human origin. Though the forces of evil that surpass us can only be defeated by a fierce battle, today’s readings show us that angels fight that battle with and for us, ministering to our needs (as they ministered to Christ’s) and helping us to overcome evil through the Love that is even more fundamental to being in the universe.
Even as we ask for the intercession of the Archangels, let us not forget the importance of our own role, which is even more pivotal than that of the angels who minister to us. In his meditation on the two standards (Spiritual Exercises 136-147), Ignatius of Loyola first invites the one praying to consider how Lucifer calls and sends countless fallen angels all over the world. Then Ignatius invites us to consider, in contrast, how Jesus combats evil: not so much by sending angels (though that happens, too), but by sending mortal human beings to preach the good news in the same frail human flesh that Jesus himself takes on. Angels fight for us, but it is through us that the Lord wishes to be victorious. May the Archangels help us to obtain that victory for God’s kingdom!