September 29th: Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels
«You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man»
Today, in the feast of the Saints Archangels, Jesus manifests to his Apostles and to everybody else, the presence of his angels and their relation with him. They are in the Lord's celestial glory, where they eternally exalt the Son of man, who is the Son of God. They surround him and are at his service.
This «Ascending and descending» reminds us of the episode of the Patriarch Jacob, who, while sleeping over a stone, on his trip to the dwelling land of his ancestors (Mesopotamia), he had the vision of the angels “descending and ascending” by a mysterious ladder which reached from earth to heaven, and of Yahweh renewing to him the glorious promises which He had made to Abraham and Isaac. We should notice the relation between the divine communication and the active presence of the angels.
Thus, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael appear in the Bible as present in earthly events and, as Saint Gregory the Great tells us, bringing to men messages which will decisively change our lives through their presence and their very actions. They are precisely named “archangels”, that is, princes of the angels, because they are sent to the greatest missions.
Gabriel is sent to announce to the Blessed Virgin Mary the virginal conception of the Son of God (cf. Lk 1:28-30). Michael fights against the rebel angels who are cast out from Heaven (cf. Rev 12). He announces, thus, the mystery of his divine justice, which is also exerted against those rebelling angels, while assuring us of his victory —and ours too— over the Evil. Raphael accompanies the young Tobias, protects and advises him, and, finally, heals his father (cf. Tob). This way, we are told of the presence of angels beside each one of us: the angel we name the Guardian angel.
Let us learn from this celebration of the archangels “ascending and descending” upon the Son of man, that they serve God, but they serve him for our sake. They glorify the Holy Trinity, and they do it while serving us. And, consequently, we realize how much devotion we owe them and how grateful we should also be to the Father who sends them for our own good.