The Daily Gospel for Tuesday, 29 September 2015

The Daily Gospel for Tuesday, 29 September 2015
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."[John 6:68]
Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels - Feast
Saints of the day:
St. Michael Archangel - Feast

SAINT MICHAEL
 Archangel
(Feast)

"MI-CA-EL," or "Who is like God?" Such was the cry of the great Archangel when he smote the rebel Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts, and from that hour he has been known as "Michael," the captain of the armies of God, the type of divine fortitude, the champion of every faithful soul in strife with the powers of evil.
Thus he appears in Holy Scripture as the guardian of the children of Israel, their comfort and protector in times of sorrow or conflict. He it is who prepares for their return from the Persian captivity, who leads the valiant Maccabees to victory, and who rescues the body of Moses from the envious grasp of the Evil One.
And since Christ's coming the Church has ever venerated St. Michael as her special patron and protector. She invokes him by name in her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her children in the agony of death, and chooses him as their escort from the chastening flames of purgatory to the realms of holy light.
Lastly, when Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael who will unfurl once more the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet, and binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them for all eternity into the burning pool.
Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894]
St. Gabriel Archangel - Feast

Saint Gabriel
Archangel
(Feast)

"I am Gabriel, who stand before God." (Luke 1, 19)
Saint Gabriel, whose name means "God's strength," is mentioned four times in the Bible.
In Daniel 8, he explains the vision of the horned ram as portending the destruction of the Persian Empire by the Macedonian Alexander the Great, after whose death the kingdom will be divided up among his generals, from one of whom will spring Antiochus Epiphanes.
In chapter 9, after Daniel had prayed for Israel, we read that "the man Gabriel . . . . flying swiftly touched me" and he communicated to him the mysterious prophecy of the "seventy weeks" of years which should elapse before the coming of Christ.
Most significant are Gabriel's two mentions in the New Testament: to announce the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zacharias, and to foretell to Mary the Incarnation of the Word in her womb.
St. Raphael Archangel - Feast

Saint Raphael
Archangel
(Feast)

Saint Raphael, whose name means "God has healed" because of his healing of Tobit's blindness in the Book of Tobit. 
Tobit is the only book in which he is mentioned. Here he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". The story of the journey during which the protective influence of the angel is shown in many ways including the binding "in the desert of upper Egypt" of the demon who had previously slain seven husbands of Sara, daughter of Raguel, is related in Tobit 5-11.
After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (Tobit 12:15).
His office is generally accepted by tradition to be that of healing and acts of mercy
Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels - Feast
The Book of Daniel 7:9 “As I watched, thrones were set in place;
and the Ancient One took his seat.
His clothing was white as snow,
the hair on his head was like pure wool.
His throne was fiery flames,
with wheels of burning fire.
10 A stream of fire flowed from his presence;
thousands and thousands ministered to him,
millions and millions stood before him.
Then the court was convened, and the books were opened.13 “I kept watching the night visions,
when I saw, coming with the clouds of heaven,
someone like a son of man.
He approached the Ancient One
and was led into his presence.
14 To him was given rulership,
glory and a kingdom,
so that all peoples, nations and languages
should serve him.
His rulership is an eternal rulership
that will not pass away;
and his kingdom is one
that will never be destroyed.Psalm 138:(0) By David:
(1) I give you thanks with all my heart.
Not to idols, but to you I sing praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your grace and truth;
for you have made your word [even] greater
than the whole of your reputation.
3 When I called, you answered me,
you made me bold and strong.
4 All the kings of the earth will thank you, Adonai,
when they hear the words you have spoken.
5 They will sing about Adonai’s ways,
“Great is the glory of Adonai!”
The Holy Gospel of Yeshua the Messiah according to Saint John 1:47 Yeshua saw Natan’el coming toward him and remarked about him, “Here’s a true son of Isra’el — nothing false in him!” 48 Natan’el said to him, “How do you know me?” Yeshua answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Natan’el said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Isra’el!” 50 Yeshua answered him, “you believe all this just because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that!” 51 Then he said to him, “Yes indeed! I tell you that you will see heaven opened and the angels of God going up and coming down[John 1:51 Genesis 28:12] on the Son of Man!”
Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels - Feast
Commentary of the day:
Saint Basil (c.330-379), monk and Bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, Doctor of the Church
Treatise on the Holy Spirit, Chapter 16

 The holiness of the angels

"By the Lord's word the heavens were made; by the breath of his mouth all their host" (Ps 33:6)… Here we perceive the Three, the Lord who gives the order, the Word who creates, and the Spirit who confirms. And what else could this confirmation be than a perfecting in holiness? This perfecting expresses unchangeableness and fixity in good, but there is no sanctification without the Holy Spirit. The powers of the heavens are not holy by nature; otherwise there would be no difference between them and the Holy Spirit. They receive their measure of holiness from the Spirit, according to their rank…
Their substance is perhaps an ethereal spirit, or an immaterial fire, as it is written, " You make the winds your messengers; flaming fire, your ministers" (Ps 104:4). They exist in space and can become visible and appear in a bodily form to those that are worthy. But their holiness… comes through their communion with the Spirit. They keep their rank by abiding in the good and true; while they retain their free will, they never fall away from their patient attendance on Him who is truly good…
For how are angels to cry "Glory to God in the highest" (Lk 2:14) without being empowered by the Spirit? For "No one can say that 'Jesus is Lord,' except by the Holy Spirit, and nobody speaking by the Spirit of God says 'Jesus be accursed,'" (1 Co 12:3) as might be said by wicked and hostile spirits… in their free will… And how could "thrones, dominions, principalities and powers"(Col 1:16) live their blessed life, if they did not "behold the face of the Father in heaven"? (Mt 18:10) But to behold it is impossible without the Spirit! ... How could the Seraphim cry "Holy, Holy, Holy," (Is 6:3) were they not taught by the Spirit? If "all His angels" and "all His hosts" praise God, it is through the co-operation of the Spirit. If "thousands on thousands" of angels stand before Him, and "ten thousand times ten thousand" ministering spirits, they are blamelessly doing their proper work by the power of the Spirit. All the glorious and unspeakable harmony of the highest heavens both in the service of God, and in the mutual concord of the celestial powers, can therefore only be preserved by the direction of the Spirit.
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