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Revelation: 12:7-12
War broke out in heaven;
Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.
The dragon and its angels fought back,
but they did not prevail
and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
The huge dragon, the ancient serpent,
who is called the Devil and Satan,
who deceived the whole world,
was thrown down to earth,
and its angels were thrown down with it.
Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:
“Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for life did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them.”
The Word of the Lord.
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Growing up, my mother, brother, and I huddled together each week on the family couch to watch one of our favorite feel-good tv shows, “Touched by an Angel.”
Each episode included a person suffering for one reason or another, leaving them on the verge of despair.
Heeding their cries, God sent an angel – veiled as a human being – to open their eyes, revealing how intimately God was working in their life, even in the midst of their suffering.
By the end of the show, the person is healed; a doubter comes to faith; a broken heart finds peace. Someone learns that they have been, “touched by an angel.”
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Throughout the bible, we see angels working in people’s lives, each with a different purpose, particularly the archangels Raphael, Gabriel, and Michael.
In the Old Testament, Raphael serves as an agent of healing, protecting Tobias and his father from blindness.
In the Gospels, Gabriel appears to Mary, encouraging her to be receptive to God’s will, and to bear the Son of God in her womb.
And, as we heard in our first reading from the Book of Revelation, Michael will slay Satan at the end of time, casting him and his minions out of heaven – and out of our lives – forever.
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Today’s Feast of the Archangels reminds us that God is still at work in this world, often through the use of “angels,” literally messengers sent to accomplish his will.
Sometimes these angels appear as bright and glowing figures as they did to Mary. But more often than not, they are veiled in flesh and blood; God’s angels are ordinary people like us – messengers of grace.
When have I been touched by an angel?
How might I be an angel, bringing a message of hope and healing, for someone else today?
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Image credits: (1) Touched by an Angel, IMDb (2) The Triumph of Christianity over Paganism, Gustave Dore (3) Woodstock Bookfest