How often we neglect to pray to our angels, to the three Archangels that Scripture reveals to us, and also our guardian angels. We have a powerful army on our side and should invoke them often!
“Are they not all ministering spirits sent to serve, for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?”
This is how the author of the book of Hebrews describes the mission of the angels in Hebrews 14:1. We call them angels, although this is not their nature (like we are “human”), but their mission (“messenger”). St. Augustine explained, “‘Angel’ is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel’: from what they are, ‘spirit’, from what they do, ‘angel.’”
Angels are sent to serve us. This should, in a sense, shock us. That angels serve God–that makes sense. Of course angels should serve their Creator. But us? That they should serve “for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation”? Angels are higher creatures, “surpassing in perfection all visible creatures” (CCC 330). We can’t even fathom how much higher they are than us… and yet, they are sent to serve us.
Perhaps this calls to mind the famous declaration of Satan, originally an angel of light, who asserted, “non serviam”—“I will not serve.” The service of God would include the service of us. Satan would not lower himself in that way.
It would also include serving God made man, Jesus, and his human mother, Mary. Mary is “higher than the cherubim,” and when we try to even think of how high the angels are in perfection about us, this mystery becomes even greater.
On their feast, take a moment to read the Scriptures about the three archangels and see how they serve God through their service to human persons. Gabriel announces the Good News to people waiting in darkness–not just at the Annunciation, but also to Zechariah and to the prophet Daniel. (See Daniel 9:21-27; Luke 1:5-25; 26-38)
Raphael heals and accompanies people who are faithful, searching, struggling with despair, and looking for love and hope. (See the entire book of Tobit)
Michael protects and defends the friends of God, strengthening them for the fight and fighting for them. (See Daniel 10:13-20, Rev 12:1-12)
Maybe you fit those descriptions. If so, beg them for their help. Maybe you know others who fit those description. If so, how can you both intercede for them and serve them?
On this feast of the Archangels, we should ask for their intercession. How often we neglect to pray to our angels, to the three Archangels that Scripture reveals to us, and also our guardian angels. We have a powerful army on our side and should invoke them often! But we should also remember that to serve God means to serve our neighbors—even the ones that we don’t want to, or that don’t seem worthy of our service. Let us serve like the angels.
Image credit: The Annunciation (detail) | Sandro Botticelli, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
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