Welcome on this feast of Saint Michael & All Angels. We pray for all Churches bearing that name today.
+In the Name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
Blessed be our God , all angels, who do His Holy Word and understand it.
That does mean, that they don't speak their own words, they don't teach others what they have on their minds , but they only speak the words, which God puts on their tongues. That is part of their being. Just think that you or I in our own lives only speak those words, which we have heard from another person.
Usually angels don't have a name, yes angels have been sent to us by God.
When we confess our sins, we do not only do this in front of Blessed Mary and all the Saints, but also for all the angels. Look at the preface in the Mass :" Therefore with angels and archangels and all the company of Heaven we laud and magnify Thy Holy Name, evermore praising Thee and saying, Holy, Holy, Holy."That we, standing on the spot of the Holy Angels, are serving ourselves , our own name and honour, instead of the name of God, isn't that our own fault ?Let us confess our sins in order to celebrate these Sacred Mysteries.
"Lo and behold, I am telling you, you will see the heavens open and the angels of God rising and descending." I think all of us would like to see what Jesus is telling Nathanael all about. And this will happen, because Jesus directs His Words not only to Nathanael . Really is being written in the plural form. " All of you will see, all of you will see great things. " That is what Jesus is saying.
Jesus treats us like Nathanael , the Israelite, in whom is no deceit. We are allowed to see what is so great , what is so high, but in reality so close to us. The Evangelist will show us the angels , but then the angels as serving spirits." Angels of God". who are continually in the radiant Glory of God.
In a sense the angels are Priest's assistants in the celebration of the Heavenly Sacrifice. The Evangelist wants to share this particular word of Jesus with us, so that it becomes so clear to whom Jesus really is. The angels serve Him. Through the angels the Evangelist wants us to show Jesus as a place of God's revelation, which happened at His Baptism: above Jesus the heavens opened and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him ( Mt 3,16: Mark 1.10, Luke 3,21,22) and in the desert:" The angels came down from Heaven to support Him ( Mt4,11 :Mark 1,13)This way Jesus is the place of God's revelation for us. The angels of God rise and descend in the service of the Son of Men. They rise and they descend. Saint Benedict says the following about this:" Brothers, if we want to reach the top the highest humbleness, if we want to come to the Heavenly Heights, after reaching that , we climb past the lowliness of this earthly life, then we must raise Jacob's ladder, remember the one which appeared in his dream and from where he saw angels rising and descending ( Genesis 28,12). This rising and descending has a message for us. If we are too proud and full of ourselves , we descend, but if we humble ourselves , yes then we rise up.
My friends , this is the way to move forward quickly, in this way you reach the top of perfectness. To rise through lowering oneself. And why is this so ? Humbleness is a difficult deed, because it is the response to our fundamental misdeed: being proud, puffed up. The latter relates to the foundation of " the old I" , the old human being ."
When you humble yourself and in this way touch the old foundations, we have a feeling that we are nowhere, and that we cannot live our lives. Why ? Because the old life which we were leading crumbles and falls to pieces.
But through the death of our being spiritually proud of ourselves , suddenly there is a new life, which develops further and further through humbleness. And we do obtain that through being humble, I can say this better " you are lifted up by God , because , whoever humbles him or herself will be lifted up by our God. ( Mt 23,12 : Luke 14,11 18,14)This is not really something you can do yourself. Being aloof , proud is your own doing, but to humble yourself , yes , that is only something God can do through His Works and only God can maintain this Work.
Amen
Father Ed Bakker
Anglican Catholic Church / Original Province
Mission of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne
Bendigo
Australia
