We like to think of ourselves as more advanced than the people of the past, and in many ways we are. There are also ways in which we are more narrow minded and therefore ignorant.
Today we celebrate three archangels(Michael, Rafael, and Gabriel) and the homily from St. Gregory the Great that I read part of this morning caused me to think more broadly. He reminds us that angel denotes a function not a nature. The word means messenger. That much I had reflected on many times. The names mean
Michael- he who is like God
Rafael- the power of God
Gabriel- the medicine of God, or God heals
That I had also reflected on before.
The part I had not spent much time reflecting on is that angels are not the only spiritual beings. The fallen angels like Satan I had thought about. But his homily caused me to stop and reflect on the fact that the Bible and in fact most cultures throughout history have readily acknowledged that there is a world of spiritual beings beyond what we can see, beyond what we can measure.
The greatness of God's universe is so far beyond us. Just the physical universe is beyond our comprehension. We have only begun to understand space and explored only a small fraction. The earth is one small planet revolving around one star, and I am one small creature who will inhabit the earth for a very short time.
This week we celebrate archangels and later in the week guardian angels. Before anyone reading this says, "I don't believe in all that stuff", listen to how narrow-minded that is, remember how small we are in the universe, and let us all truly believe that
with God all things are possible. Let us take time today to marvel at everything the word "universe" encompasses.
