Preached at St Michael and All Angels, West Croydon, 2nd October 2022.
Daniel 7.9-10, 13-14 His
robe was white as snow
Apocalypse 12.7-12 Michael
with his angels attacked the dragon
John 1.47-51 You
will see heaven laid open, and the Son of Man
Thanks
be to God for your patron saints: for St Michael the Archangel, for St Gabriel,
St Raphael and all the heavenly host!
What a
beautiful dedication and patronage you have in this church: savour it as you
worship Christ and glory in his holy angels.
It is an
honour for me to have been invited by Fr Tim to preach today. And I bring
greetings from your neighbours in the Parish of Croydon, those of us at Croydon
Minster and St George’s, Waddon.
In the presence of the angels I will bless you, O Lord. Psalm 137 (138)
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When
angels are present we know that the Lord is coming close to his people and his
people close to him.
When the
Lord is present we can be sure the angels are present too.
The
scriptures highlight times when angels are ministering most obviously.
When the
Word becomes Flesh - ‘for us men and for our salvation’ - it is Gabriel the
archangel who announces God’s call to the Blessed Virgin, who responds to the
archangel with her Fiat, her ‘be it
unto me according to thy word’.
God is present:
the angel is there.
We
rehearse that angelic encounter every time we pray the Angelus.
In the
heat of the spiritual and cosmic battle against the forces of death and sin,
Michael the archangel is to be found because the battle and victory is
Christ’s: as the voice proclaims from heaven: ‘Victory and power and empire for
ever have been won by our God, and all authority for Christ’ (Apoc. 12.10).
God is present:
the angel is there.
When the
Lord’s healing balm is offered to people who seek healing and salvation we can
be sure Raphael, ‘the healing presence of God’ is there.
And of
course, there are more than three angels attested to in scripture.
The multitude of the heavenly host fills the
skies at key moments, such as when they call the shepherds to the manger of
Bethlehem: Michael is joined by his angels in the heavenly battle (Luke 2.13;
Apoc. 12.7).
And just
as when Gabriel came to Our Lady in Nazareth, or when an angel came to
Zechariah in the temple to announce the birth of John the Baptist, or when an
angel came to Joseph in a dream or an angel led Paul our of prison: angels
don’t just come in multitudes, but also in directly personal angelic encounters
with human beings. (Luke 1.26; Matthew 1.20).
Angels
are concerned also with the likes of you and me.
To speak
of our Guardian Angel reminds us that God cares for each of us, individually
and personally.
Today, 2nd
October, is also the memorial of the Guardian Angels which we wrap into our
celebration of all the angels today on this, the Lord’s own day.
In your
own trials and tribulations or when God wishes you to hear and discern his call
to you, your Guardian Angel will be present, indicating that God is present
with you.
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When
angels are present we know that the Lord is coming close to his people and his
people close to him.
Angels
thread heaven and earth together, lest we think the two are remote.
Jacob
saw that in his vision of angels ascending and descending: how awesome is the
place where heaven touches earth.
And here
in this place – St Michael’s Church - heaven touches earth in the bricks and
mortar, but more than that we taste heaven on earth in the banquet in which we
share now.
In the
sacraments in general, and the Mass in particular - when the Lord is with his
people and his people drawn close to him - the holy angels are in attendance.
Immediately
before we sing of the holiness of God in the Sanctus the priest says:
Through [Christ] the multitude
of Angels extols your majesty,
and we are united with them in
exultant adoration,
as with one voice of praise we
acclaim: (Preface of the Angels)
Holy. Holy. Holy…
The
angels spin ethereal threads that weave us into the holiness of God.
As the
Eucharistic Prayer puts it:
In humble prayer Almighty God:
commend that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar
on high in the sight of your divine majesty, so that all of us who through this
most holy Body and Blood of your Son, may be filled with every grace and
heavenly blessing. (The Roman Canon)
The
angels are the threads connecting heaven and earth because Christ connect
heaven earth, divinity and humanity in his Incarnation.
So Jacob
saw a ladder reaching into heaven; and heaven reaching down to earth.
Jesus
says, ‘you will see greater things than these; angels ascending and descending
upon the Son of Man’.
What
does that tell us?
It tells
us that Christ - ‘the fair glory of the holy angels’ – is the route by which
the heavens are opened to us, is the way to the Father, and is the fullness of
God.
If you
ever wonder if you have encountered an angel, test it by this measure: was my
heart moved to Christ; was my heart moved to the mysteries of God; was my heart
moved to the beatific vision, the vision of heaven touching earth, when God is
all and in all?
If that
is where your heart was moved then be sure the Lord was present and his angel
was there.
And what
a blessing that is.
May the
angels prompt us to proclaim:
In the presence of the angels I will bless you, O Lord. Psalm 137 (138)
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