St. Michael, Satan’s slayer
There was a battle in heaven and St. Michael cast the lousy Lucifer and his devils from the light and glory of God. Lucifer and his minions were cast down to earth to tempt man. Misery loves company and Lucifer the miserable desires that none of us in the human race find our way to God and the Beatific Vision. Instead his desire is to consume our souls in his isolation in hell. Catholics have lost the sense of the sacred because Lucifer has stolen the megaphones of society. So let us consider St. Michael and turn to him in our own special battles with the evil one.
In the first place note the very name, Michael = Who is like God? Imagine we have all been created in the image of God. This goes for the angels as well as man. There are nine choirs of distinct angels and one choir of human beings. In fact the angels rejoice when a single human soul is brought back to the heart of God. Man in the meantime has been challenged in this world by the temptations of the devils, the world and our very selves. As God spoke to Cain after the technological sacrifice of grains was rejected as a sin offering: “Sin is at the door of your heart and you must conquer it”. Sin is only conquered by Blood shed upon a cross and eternally repeated to cover sin and its effects.
Through the Blood of the Lamb our sin becomes a “happy fault” because we learn how deeply God loves us even though we are mere “dirt balls”. Like the angels who remain in God’s love by their obedience so we were created in that love and for that love. So we turn to St. Michael to help us in the battle against the evil one. This plea is repeated in every traditional holy Mass and it was omitted by the Novus Ordo. Yet our prayer to St. Michael opens us to the nine choirs of angels who are encouraging us to remain faithful to our Lord and His Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist.
Union with the eternal comes through those are already living in eternity. St. Michael assigns our guardian angel to watch over us physically, mentally and spiritually. What a great gift this arch angel has done for us. How many times in our lives we experience the danger that could cause our very death and yet somehow we were spared and we do not know how it was done. How many times we have been challenged intellectually and our angel guides us to the person who can clarify the doubt or give us new insight into our faith. Also there is the spiritual gifts that our angels present us with almost daily. They are the ones assigned by God as Tobias received Rafael to lead him to the foreign land and back. How many gifts that angel gave to both Tobiases (e.g. a bride spared, eyes re-opened, wealth restored). How St. Michael wants us to appreciate these wonderful angels that are with us always.
Another aspect that St. Michael performs in our world is the hand to hand combat with evil which is his fondest act. He wants to cast out the devil from each one of us in order to increase the citizenship in heaven. With the sword of truth he cuts through the half-truths of Lucifer and opens our hearts and minds to fullness of Truth found in our Lord. Dear St. Michael we who are in the world salute you and pray to you for our protection and our salvation. We know that our devotion to our Lady, to you and to our guardian angels lead us to the friendship of all the citizens of heaven. May we never fail to recognize the great friends God has given us to encourage us to “seek first the kingdom of heaven and all things will be ours as well.”
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Fr. Richard Voigt, S.D.B.
PS. October is on the horizon and we need to follow our Lady’s request: increase the time you pray the holy rosary and do penance to protect the Church from Schism and apostasy. Pray and fast to conquer the deceit of the Amazon ecologism.
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