Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels

Heaven May Be Closer Than We Think

When we hear that first reading today from Revelation, it’s quite a scene: “War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.” It’s probably not the way most of us normally think about angels. We tend to picture angels as peaceful figures. We see them in paintings and statues. We put them on Christmas cards. But Scripture gives us a much stronger picture. The angels are doing something. They are carrying out the work of God.

Today we celebrate three of them by name: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Each one shows us something different about the way God works.

Michael is the one we hear about in our first reading today. He leads the angels in battle against the dragon, against Satan and the forces of evil. His name means, “Who is like God?” And the answer is: no one. No power of evil is greater than God.

Gabriel is the messenger. He appears to Zechariah to announce the birth of John the Baptist, and, of course, he comes to Mary at the Annunciation. He tells her, “Do not be afraid, Mary,” and then announces that she will become the mother of Jesus.

We meet Raphael in the Book of Tobit. He accompanies the young Tobias on his journey, protects him along the way, and through Raphael, God brings healing to Tobias’ father, Tobit.

So we could almost remember them this way: Michael — strength against evil. Gabriel — a message from God. Raphael — healing and companionship along the way.

And when you think about it, those are three things that we all need. There are times when we need strength because we’re struggling with something. Maybe it’s a temptation. Maybe it’s something in our life that we know needs to change. Maybe we’re just tired of fighting the same battle over and over again.

There are times when we need God to get through to us. We’re trying to figure out what to do, which direction to go, or what God is asking of us. And there are times when we need healing. Or maybe we simply need to know that we’re not walking through something alone.

There’s also something about angels that we sometimes get wrong. Sometimes when someone dies, we hear people say, “Heaven gained another angel.” It’s a nice thought, but actually, we don’t become angels when we die. Angels are one kind of creature; we are another. God created us as human beings, and that is what we remain. Our hope isn’t that someday we become angels. Our hope is that someday we join the angels and all the saints in heaven in the presence of God.

And the interesting thing is that we already get a glimpse of that at every Mass.

Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “You will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” We tend to think that we’re down here, dealing with everything that goes on in our lives, and heaven is somewhere far away. But that’s not really the picture Jesus gives us.

Think about what happens at Mass. At the end of the Preface, right before the Eucharistic Prayer, the priest says that we join the angels and saints in their hymn of praise. And then together we proclaim, “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.”

Sometimes we say it so automatically that we don’t really think about what we’re doing. But at that moment, we are joining our voices to the worship of heaven. The angels are praising God, and we join them. The saints are praising God, and we join them. We’re not simply remembering them. Our worship here on earth is joined to their worship in heaven.

So today, when we come to that part of the Mass, maybe we can listen to those words a little differently: “Holy, Holy, Holy.” And remember — we’re not saying them alone. We are joining the angels and saints in the praise of God.

We may only see an altar, candles, bread and wine, and the people sitting around us. But our faith tells us there is more happening here than what our eyes can see.

And maybe that’s what Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael can remind us of today. When we’re struggling, God is there. When we’re confused, God is there. When we need healing, God is there. And when we feel like we’re walking alone, God is there.

The angels don’t draw our attention to themselves. They point us toward God. And they remind us that heaven may be a lot closer than we think.