The Feast of the Archangels

Like so many feasts of the Church, this is one that I love. Not only because my youngest son, and my eldest grandchild bear the name of the angels, but our son was baptized on this feast day.
As families this feast day gives us an opportunity to renew our friendship with the angels, who are given to help us in our spiritual journey and who are eager to assist in our daily battle against the powers of darkness.

The three archangels mentioned in Scripture are Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Michael which translated from the Hebrew means" who is like unto God". Gabriel means "man of God" or " God has shown himself mighty"  and Raphael "God heals" or " the remedy of God".

Michael has been especially honoured and invoked as patron and protector by the Church since the time of the Apostles. On Sunday April 24th 1994 Saint John Paul the second, while pope at the time recommended that the faithful recite the prayer to St. Michael daily.

Gabriel,  is first seen in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, he explains to Daniel the meaning of  Daniel's visions. Next we see him in the New Testament as the bringer of news. Gabriel bringing news to both Zechariah and Mary, news that seemed incredulous to both. But which turned out to be just what he said.

Raphael, who we see in the book of Tobit helping a young man to find his true love, he aids Tobias in setting his true love free from a evil spirit, and then cures her father-in-law of blindness.

Are the Angels relevant today? You better believe it! Never in the history of mankind has satan convinced so many people to turn away from God and set up false idols. He uses the media to glamorize his sinful ways and seduces many to believe that he doesn't really exist, therefore gaining much ground over a persons soul. We therefore stand in need of these Angels, especially Michael who "defends us in the day of battle".

How to celebrate this feast day within the family, well firstly if you can get to Mass that would be the ultimate way, while you are there pray the prayer of St. Michael,( if you are not familiar with it see below! ) secondly, Angel cake for tea!! Wether  it's brought or homemade, doesn't matter but use the opportunity to talk with your children about the angels and to explain the goodness of God that he has given us these wondrous  creatures to protect us.

What ever you do this feast day have a good one!

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in this day of battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil,
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
And do thou, O prince of the Heavenly Host,
By the power of God,
Thrust down into hell, satan and all the evil spirits
 who wander throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

The Feast Of St Matthew

So very little is known about St. Matthew. what we do know is that he was a tax collector or publican in the town of Capernaum.  According to the Gospels of Mark and Luke, Matthew was originally called Levi son of Alphaeus{~Mark 2:13 and Luke 5:27} Although Mark and Luke do not mention Matthew by name their accounts match up with Matthews own account. The name change was not   unusual, many people had their names changed after an encounter with God. We can think of Abram became Abraham, Jacob became Israel, Simon became Peter and Saul became Paul. Can you imagine how Matthew felt when Christ conferred on him a new name meaning "gift of God "

As a tax collector, Matthew would have been a man despised by his own people. He worked for the Roman government and the tax collectors would often enrich themselves by collecting higher taxes than were due to line their own pockets. But an encounter with Christ radically changed his life.

 For me the call of Matthew speaks very deeply about the character of Christ. Matthew must have seen something in Jesus that spoke so deeply in his heart, that at the moment Jesus looked at him and said "follow me" something must have stirred deep down for Matthew to be able to walk away and leave his very lucrative job behind. And leave it behind he did, he went and hosted a large banquet for Jesus and his companions. He also invited many other tax collectors and "sinners" to the feast. This upset the Pharisees,{ so easily done!} who felt, that,  just to be in the same vicinity of one of those "unclean" people would mean that they themselves were tarnished. They asked the disciples why would Jesus entertain such an idea. On hearing this Jesus gave an answer which must bring hope and joy to every sinners heart, " Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means, "I desire mercy, and not sacrifice." For I came not to call the righteous but sinners."
Wow! Dont those words fill you with hope?

Jesus was making it quite clear that those who knew they needed a Saviour were in much better standing than those who thought they had got their religion all sorted out and were managing quite well on their own thank you very much.

What became of Matthew? after Pentecost know one really knows. Some say he was martyred, but there is no conclusive evidence for this. It is thought that he travelled extensively carrying the gospel message with him. But one thing is for sure, Matthew had a lucrative life and a secure job and after a real encounter with Christ he walked away from it all for a life of travelling and hardship.

The Exaltation Of The Cross

I have often been told I have a very vivid imagination. This may be true. So often with our faith we have to use our imaginations to try and visualize the scenes we read about in the Scriptures. For me the Cross has always been a difficult one.

I like to imagine it as a bridge between Heaven and earth. Think of it laid flat stretching out between two worlds. It is through having the courage to walk across this bridge that we reach the safety of the other side. But in between us is this cavernous gaping ravine. Sometimes we seem to be able to skip across it and at other times we crawl gripping the sides too terrified to look down. But maybe that’s the point, the trick is not to look down or to look back but to keep going forward, step by step, clinging to the body of our Lord Jesus Christ as we inch our way along. Knowing that it was he who gladly laid down on the bridge so that we could gain entry into his kingdom.

Today, we celebrate the Exaltation or Triumph of the Cross. A feast that stems from Christ’s passion but which was prompted by the finding of the one true Cross by Saint Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine.

Tradition has it that Helena in her later years had a desire to go to Jerusalem. While she was there she undertook to rid the Holy Sepulchre of the mound of earth that surrounded it, and to destroy the remains of a pagan temple to Aphrodite that had been built there.  It was known that the crosses had been hidden in a ditch or well and covered over with stones, so that no one would be able to steal them. Helena felt in her heart that she would discover the whereabouts of the Cross.

There was one man, interestingly named Judas, who touched by divine inspiration, pointed out to the excavators where the crosses could be found. This led to his conversion and he is honored by the name St Cyriacus.

On the discovery of the three crosses, not knowing which one had been Our Lord’s, St Macarius, bishop of the city, had them carried to the bedside of a worthy woman who was at the point of death. When she was touched by the true Cross she was healed.
Helena, who also wanted to check the authenticity of the true Cross, she had a man who had died and been buried brought to her. Upon being touched by the true cross he awakened from the dead.

There is another possibility, admittedly, not as exciting as the above stories, but when the excavators found the three crosses they were able to identify the true Cross because it still had on the sign Pilate had had nailed to it with the description “Jesus the Nazarene, the King of the Jews”.

The Cross is the sign and hope of our redemption. It is important to have a symbol of this hanging in our homes. This feast gives us a wonderful opportunity to talk to our children about the Cross and how we are all called to carry our crosses if we want to follow Jesus. The idea that our pain and suffering can be used by Christ is alien to some, but this is an important part of our Christian faith, and we need to teach our children to bravely shoulder their cross, and with Christ at their side to step out in faith.

To celebrate this feast day maybe it would be a good idea to place a crucifix on the dinner table or place it where it can be seen; and to gather around it after dinner to say family prayers. Get the children involved in baking a cross shaped cake which everyone can enjoy at tea-time.