BEHOLDING THE FACE OF GOD


SAINTS MICHAEL, GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS

Dan 7:9-10,13-14; Ps 131-5; Jn 1:47-51

The Angels Ascending and Descending

As we celebrate the archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, we turn our minds to the infinite Majesty of God. Consider the fact that everything in existence came from him and for his holy will. Everything serves the purpose of God. How holy and immutable is the divine will! The mystery of God and his holy and immutable will is symbolically presented to us in the vision of the prophet Daniel. “Thrones were set in place and one of great age took his seat. His robe was white as snow, the hair of his head as pure as wool. His throne was a blaze of flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A stream of fire poured out, issuing from his presence.” God has no age, for himself is existence, and calls things into existence. The symbols of the throne, great age, white robe, pure woollen hair, throne of blazing flames, and flames issuing from his presence all represent the infinite Majesty of God and the holiness and immutability of his will. The whole of existence issues from him in purity. Nothing can thwart God's plan or alter his holy will. God inscribes his purity and the infinite greatness in the fabric of everything in existence, yet we do not see nor understand it because we do not pay attention.

Attention is the key activity of all his rational creatures that he made in his image; for that would transform them to be like God, in addition to bearing his image. The necessity of attention is even more evident in the angels, whom God made pure spirits. What defines a spirit is attending or consciousness. God made these pure spirits, or angels, pass through a similar temptation to that of man. We call the process temptation for lack of a better word. It is actually the process that completes the rational creatures; the exercise of the free will they received from God defines the rational natures. It involves becoming conscious of God and choosing to remain focussed on God, dedicating their being to doing the holy and immutable will of God. The fallen ones moved their attention on God to self and self-glory without God. The order or hierarchy of the angels is based on the intensity of the attention of each angel on God and his holy and immutable will. The archangels, among whom are Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, are special because of their devotion and attention to God. Their strength or power consists in their alignment and love of the holy and immutable will of God; that is, their consecration or dedication to God. Hence, in the passage from Daniel, we are told that a stream of fire issues from the presence of God, which denotes the divine will, and ten thousand times ten thousand wait on him. It is the description of the nature of angels as rational beings, which we will become when purified through faith, hope, and love of God in this life.

We see this explanation at play in each of the manifestations of these three angels. Saint Michael exhibits the strength of God and was able to fight and overcome the ancient dragon and the fallen angels due to his special devotion to God’s authority. This is given in the alternative first reading from the Apocalypse. Saint Gabriel reveals himself as the bearer of God’s will for our salvation, the Incarnation of the Eternal Word. Saint Raphael revealed himself to Tobias as the bearer of God’s healing remedies for the afflicted. He introduced himself as one of the angels who constantly behold the divine face or the holy and immutable will of God. Because all angels are devoted to the holy and immutable will of God, the Psalmist says that God makes his angels flames of fire to bring about his holy will. Cf. Ps 104:4, Heb 1:7. The holy face or divine countenance they all behold in different degrees of intensity is the Eternal Word of God, who became man for our salvation. Jesus Christ means this in the Gospel of today, when he said to Nathaniel: “‘You believe that just because I said: I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.’ And then he added ‘I tell you most solemnly, you will see heaven laid open and, above the Son of Man, the angels of God ascending and descending.’” The Godhead of the Son of Man is what is shown to Daniel when he saw the one like the Son of Man, on whom God conferred sovereignty, glory, and kingship. The archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael heed our invocation whenever we are on course to fulfilling the will of God; that is the nature of their service to us in Jesus Christ. We should invoke them very often to aid us in our trials.

Let us pray: O God, who dispose in marvellous order ministries both angelic and human, graciously grant that our life on earth may be defended by those who watch over us as they minister perpetually to you in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.    

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