RBWords

     Angels are a matter of faith and a matter of fact!  The problem for our scientifically oriented culture is that they aren't measurable, which makes all of our experience of them anecdotal, but there is plenty of testimony if one wants to go online and read it or the books about angels.  Today we celebrate three "named" angels from the scriptures.  We do have to remember that scripture does not call them "ARCH-angels."  Human tradition supplied that title and the title, "saint!"  Nevertheless, these three play vivid roles in biblical scenes and have supplied the faithful, particularly artists, with much to feed the imagination.  

     I have been in many churches that have statues of Michael in full Roman army regalia!  One wonders what would happen if a statue of him garbed as an infantry soldier in modern military wear appeared in a parish church?  His name means "the might of God" which is what he bears in battle in the passage from the Book of Revelation! All three names today are "functional" and describe the particular angel.  Gabriel is a messenger and Raphael is a healer.  Scripture sometimes supplies "white robes" and mentions wings in describing the angels over the Ark of the Covenant.  

     The archangels give us a reason to celebrate the realities of creation that transcend much of our experience.  To the skeptic, not much can be said other than Hamlet's line:  "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."  The Lord's statement to Nathaniel in today's gospel, quoted above, is good enough for me.  AMEN