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, the Lord sent an angel – veiled as a human being – to open their eyes, revealing how intimately God was working in their life, even in their suffering.
By the end of the show, the person was healed; a doubter came to faith; a broken heart found peace. Someone learned they were, “touched by an angel.”
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Throughout the bible, we see angels working in people’s lives.
In the Old Testament, the archangel Raphael serves as an agent of healing.
In the Gospels, the archangel Gabriel appears to Mary, telling her that she’ll bear the Son of God in her womb.
Shortly thereafter, an anonymous angel appears to Joseph in a dream, telling him that Mary’s pregnancy is, in fact, God’s will, softening his heart to welcome her into his home.
A second angel appears to Joseph in another dream, telling him to flee with Mary and Jesus from Palestine into Egypt as King Herod was trying to kill the Christ-child.
And, in the Book of Revelation, we read of the archangel Michael slaying Satan, casting him out of heaven forever.
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Today’s feast of the Archangels reminds us that God is still working in this world, even in our own lives.
But the “angels” we see are often veiled by flesh and blood; they are ordinary people like us willing to be God’s agents of grace.
When has someone been an “angel” for me? Or when have I felt God working through me as an angel for another?
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May the Lord use each of us today, allowing someone else to be touched by an angel.
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Image credits: (1) Touched by an Angel, Rotten Tomatoes (2) Archangel Michael Defeats Satan, Guido Reni (3) QuoteFancy
Jesus said to the Pharisees: “There was a rich man who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, and from the netherworld, where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented. Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.'”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Many of you know, for the first three years I served as pastor of this parish, I wore a name tag every single day.
It hung above my heart, attached to a green lanyard with the three pillars of our mission statement printed on it: Building Community. Worshiping God. Making Disciples.
I wore it with intention. I wore it to show by example that we all enjoy being known by name. And we all want to feel welcome here.
Part of my inspiration came from the theme song of the tv sitcom Cheers: “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.”
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In today’s Gospel, Jesus offers a parable about a man named Lazarus. This is the only parable in all of the Gospels where Jesus gives someone a name.
The name, Lazarus, means, “God is my help.”
It seems like a paradox.
How can this beggar covered in ulcers, who is so weak that he cannot stop the street dogs from licking his wounds, bear a name like, Lazarus?
Although God delivers him from everlasting death and allows him to feast, not at an earthly table, but at his heavenly banquet, aren’t we left wondering:
“Where was God in this life? Was God deaf to his cries? Why did God allow Lazarus – who bore his name – to suffer torment?”
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Perhaps the Lord heard Lazarus loud and clear.
But the man whom God sent to answer his prayers – the man who had more than enough, who dressed in purple garments and fine linen, who ate sumptuously every single day – was indifferent to Lazarus’ suffering.
It’s a haunting truth.
Some – perhaps many – prayers go unanswered, not because God isn’t listening, but because the people whom God sends to help are busy, blind, or indifferent. As Saint Teresa of Avila once wrote, “Christ has no body now but yours. No hands, no feet, but yours.”
The first lesson in today’s Gospel parable is this: sometimes you and I are meant to be angels in disguise, the hands and feet of Christ.
A father may be the answer to his troubled son’s prayer.
A friend may be sent as God’s hidden voice of comfort.
A stranger may feed, clothe, or soothe someone in distress.
In some small way, God intends to use each of us to heal the bleeding and weeping of this world. But, unlike the rich man, our hearts must be softened by grace.
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This is why that anonymous glutton ends up in Hades. Not because he was rich. But because he was indifferent; he saw Lazarus suffer and did nothing. In fact, the rich man indicts himself while calling out to Abraham from the underworld.
“Father, Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue… Send him to my father’s house, for I have five brothers so that he may warn them.”
By addressing both Abraham and Lazarus by name, the rich man admits that he has ignored the two fundamental pillars of religion: love of God and love of neighbor.
If this man knew of Abraham, then he knew of the God of Israel. And if he knew Lazarus by name, then he spoke with him at least once in life. Yet knowledge of neither provoked charity from his heart.
Amazingly, from the flames, the man’s perspective of Lazarus has not changed as he calls upon him to be his servant. “Cool my tongue… go tell my brothers.” But the rich man’s request for mercy is denied because he himself failed to show it.
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This provides a second lesson for us: whatever we ask of God, we should also be willing to extend to others. For example, how often do we pray for mercy, compassion, forgiveness, healing, or hope for ourselves?
While God eagerly desires to help, he will only do so for those who extend it to their neighbor. As Jesus says elsewhere, “Forgive and you will be forgiven… Do not judge and you will not be judged… Be merciful just as your heavenly Father is merciful.”
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My friends, “Sometimes you wanna go where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.”
Here at St. Pius X, we’re not only glad you came, but we also recognize that God uses us as angels in disguise, sent to comfort “Lazarus” among us.
For whatever we do to each other, we do to Christ himself.
Once when Jesus was praying in solitude, and the disciples were with him, he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” They said in reply, “John the Baptist; others, Elijah; still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’” Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.” He rebuked them and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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One of the most effective tools of evangelization in recent memory that has taught people about our Christian faith is the television series, The Chosen.
Each episode allows viewers to engage their imagination as they dive deeper into the personalities of each character, the culture and terrain of ancient Palestine, as well as other little details that are often excluded in the Gospels.
Perhaps most importantly of all, the series makes people feel like Jesus, Peter, and the others are real people.
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While I’ve not seen the entire series, I’d imagine today’s Gospel would be included in one of the episodes.
The disciples have just returned from their first missionary journey, where they themselves were given Christ’s power to cast out demons and heal people in his name. Now they’ve reunited and their Master is deep in prayer.
Suddenly, Jesus pauses, turns to them, and asks them two questions: “Who do the crowds say that I am?” … And, “Who do you say that I am?”
I imagine James and John looking down at their sandals, kicking a pebble or two. Maybe Judas is jingling the coins in his pocket. And Thomas is deep in thought asking himself the same question, “Who do I say that Jesus is?”
Breaking the tension, Peter pipes up and gets it right: “The Christ of God.”
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While Peter may have saved the group from an uncomfortable evening lecture around the campfire, the other disciples represent where so many adult Christians are today.
When people ask us about who Jesus is, how often are we tongue-tied? As adults, are we actively studying our faith? Or do we tend to rely upon an eight-minute Sunday sermon?
While that should be helpful, what might be other avenues of study?
Many have turned to daily prayer apps like Halo. Perhaps this blog is helpful. I’ve even heard people turning recently to AI.
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So, “Who do you say that I am?” While we all say with Peter, “the Christ,” can we also dive deeper into why we believe that today?
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Image credits: (1) No Bible No Breakfast (2) The Chosen, Trinity Broadcasting Network (3) Vine Christian Centre
