Readings
I - Deu. 7: 9-10, 13-14
II - Jn. 1: 47-51
FEAST OF ST. MICHAEL, ST. GABRIEL AND ST. RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS
Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Archangels St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael. They are the divine messengers of God with some special divine mission on the earth. Michael means ‘who is like God?’ His mission was to defeat Satan and its rebellious activities. Gabriel means ‘Strength of God. His mission was to bring the good news to the world. He announced about the birth of John the Baptist and that of the Messiah to Zachariah and Blessed Virgin Mary respectively. Raphael means ‘medicine of God’. He was the guardian of the wayfarers and healer of the sick. He accompanied Tobias and healed Tobit. The archangels in short reflected God and took people closer to God.
In today’s Gospel passage Philip takes or rather leads Nathanael to Jesus. He helped Nathanael to discover the Messiah for himself in Jesus. We are called to be the messengers of God in protecting or guarding people like Michael, heal people with our words and deeds like Raphael and become good news to people around us. May the celebration of the fest help us to imbibe the spirit of the archangels so that we become sign and expression of God’s love to all people. Let our mind and heart resonate with the prayer: “Sts. Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Pray for us”.
