Monday 29 September 2014

Background

Today is the feast day of St Michael and all Angels. On one ofmy shelves there is a statue of St Michael slaying a veryhuman-shaped devil. It was a gift to me from a local CatholicChurch when I left my full time appointment and the sight of itreminds me of many ecumenical times shared within theirbuilding.

So who is St Michael? He is, according to Scripture, one ofthree named angels: the other two being Gabriel, who was sent totell Mary that she was to become a mother (Luke1:26-38), and Raphael. Michael is described as the protector ofIsrael and the leader of the armies of God, and it is in thislatter role that we acknowledge him in the passage we have beforeus today. His challenge is to be the warrior who takes on evil(personified as the devil), and according to the vision inRevelation the evil one is thrown out of heaven and peace reigns.Some people, of course, accept the story as an explanation of whatwill happen when the destiny of the world is decided. Michael isthe heavenly patron of Israel and, by extension, the patron ofChristian people as the new people of God. John's vision is thatwhen the conflict between the Church and the pagan world comes to aclimax, then the battle would be fought not on earth but in heaven,and Michael would be the champion in this battle.

However, it must be clear to us all that the battle describedhere did not bring an end to conflict, and we cannot hide from theconflict in what we term the Holy Land going on today. Therefore wemust, in my opinion, bring the battle closer to home, not in thesense of physical warfare but by doing all that we can, asdisciples of Jesus, to defeat evil when we see it around us in ourown environment, whether it is through making our voices heard whenwe see injustices around us, or being practical warriors againstthe darkness we see around us. We are to be the Michaels in our ownplace and time, casting out the demons on behalf of Christ.

To Ponder

• What would be the particular demons you would defeat if you hadthe courage to do so?

• How do you think the people termed the Body of Christ shouldreact to the evil in the world?

• Should we just gather together with people who feel and thinklike us and shut ourselves off from the world and leave thesolution to God? Why? Or why not?