St. Michael the Archangel
By Brian Flanagan, Fiat Ventures
33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time
When you picture an angel, what comes to mind? Maybe a woman in a long white robe with flowing hair and giant wings and a glowing halo on her head. Or perhaps you’re picturing a chubby little Cupid-looking cherub. If you’re picturing 45 degrees on a protractor, you’re probably too dependent on spell-check in your everyday life.
We usually think of angels as peaceful heavenly beings that come to earth with really pleasant things to sing about, like the birth of Jesus. If you flip through the Bible and come across people encountering angels though, their response isn’t what we’d expect. In fact, they’re usually afraid – even terrified. I mean think about it, if the angel you’re picturing suddenly appeared next to you, you’d be pretty freaked out. However beautiful they were, you’d probably think about running out the door. A being from another world crashing into your existence must be pretty terrifying. That’s why they are always saying “Do not be afraid” to those they encounter.
In other places in the Bible like this week’s First Reading from Daniel, we read about angels who don’t just deliver messages from the Almighty, but who are his heavenly warriors. St. Michael is called the “prince of the heavenly host”. We’ve heard this word before in Mass when we sing “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of Hosts”. Hosts in this case basically means “angel armies”. So who do these angel armies fight against?
Well if you remember, the devil himself is a fallen angel. When Satan (whose angel name was Lucifer meaning light-bearer) decided to rebel against God, many angels rebelled along with him and became what we would usually call “demons”. And this is real spiritual stuff, not just a list of Halloween costumes.
Lucifer’s battle cry was “I will not serve”. He felt that he was equal to God and he couldn’t handle serving him. Facing off against these fallen angels is St. Michael the Archangel leading the heavenly host, and even his name is sort of a taunt against Satan. Satan says “I am like God” and Michael in Hebrew actually means “Who is like God?”
It’s helpful to remember that we’re part of this spiritual battle. We can pray to St. Michael and ask his intercession especially in our struggles against temptation. There’s a pretty classic Catholic prayer that used to be really well known, and I know for me when I learned it and started praying it in those situations, I felt real spiritual power. This wasn’t just “Bless us O Lord, and these thy gifts” before dinner. Here’s the prayer:
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
cast into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
So learn it and next time you feel like the devil is trying to pull you away from God in one way or another, pray to St. Michael and see if you still picture him as Cupid after that!