"For centuries the church has confronted the human community with role models of greatness. We call them saints when what we really
often mean to say is 'icon,' 'star,' 'hero,' ones so possessed by an internal vision of divine goodness that they give us a glimpse of the face of God in the center of the human. They give us a taste of the possibilities of greatness in ourselves."
Joan D. Chittister, A Passion for Life
(Who are your models for Christian living? Give thanks to God for the role they've played in your
life.) |
DN 7:9-10, 13-14; PS 138:1-2AB, 2CDE-3, 4-5
JN 1:47-51
Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him,
"Here is a true child of Israel.
There is no duplicity in him."
Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree."
Nathanael answered him,
"Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus answered and said to him,
"Do you believe
because I told you that I
saw you under the fig tree?
You will see greater things than this."
And he said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."
Reflection on the
Scriptures |
- Feast of the Archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael
These three celestial figures do represent the history of God’s ever-coming close. Michael begins the tension between good and bad, which we know as the battle within
us all. Raphael is God’s walking us through our blindness, blinded by our own weaknesses. Gabriel announces the Good News of Great Joy that God, in Jesus has joined our battle with ourselves. God has taken our fleshly blindness so that we see more clearly who we are in God’s loving vision, even when we lose one battle or other with the bad.
It is our belief that angels continue ascending and descending battling, guiding, healing and offering messages and invitations even to us on our battle fields. St. Michael defend us in our personal wars within. We pray
through you to the Prince of Peace for the conversion of our divided selves, families, nations and world.
St. Raphael. We pray through you to the Light of the World that we may see and receive all the sacramental gestures of the Creating
God. St. Gabriel, we pray through your messaging service to assist us in responding to all the invitations to go into our futures with your words of encouragement, that we are not to be afraid of ourselves nor of the Sender.
We might pray for a freedom to be available to be guided, unblended and invited as we pray with the angels of our lives. St. Michael is still winning. St. Raphiel is still journeying. St. Gabriel is still announcing Christ’s being born in the empty-womb of humanity!
- by Larry Gillick, S.J. Revelations of Divine
Love - by Julian of Norwich
Fourteenth Revelation, Chapter 42
“Prayer is a right understanding of
that fulness of joy that is to come, with accordant longing and sure trust”
Then signifieth He thus: that we [should] see that He doeth it, and that we [should] pray therefor. For the one is not enough. For if we pray and see not that He doeth it, it maketh us heavy and doubtful; and that is not His worship. And if we see that He doeth, and we pray not, we do not our debt, and so may it
not be: that is to say, so is it not [the thing that is] in His beholding.
But to see that He doeth it, and to pray forthwithal,—so is He worshiped and we sped. All-thing that our Lord hath ordained to do, it is His will that we pray therefor, either in special or in general. And the joy and the bliss that it is to Him, and the thanks and the worship that we shall have therefor, it passeth the
understanding of creatures, as to my sight.
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