The Gospel for the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Archangels is taken from John 1st, chapter 47 through the 51st verse. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said to 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 on the Son of Man. We all know the miraculous powers that Jesus had to heal to raise people from the dead.

But we may not understand he had the ability to read heart, to know where people were really coming from. Duplicity is often when you present yourself as someone you’re not, when you pretend to be holy, when you’re not. And what he’s saying is that when you have a pure heart, when you really do feel God living there and resonating his truth, you will be in touch with the real power of Jesus. Angels were always the things that brought messages from God, but now God himself is the messenger, and his message is powerful. Take a few moments to reflect upon these thoughts, and then I will close with a prayer. Closing prayer Father, help us to accept your judgment of who we are.

Open our hearts to let you tell us what we need to change, what we need to get past. We’re masters at holding things back, pretending we’re someone we’re not. So bless us with honesty and openness to you. And we ask this in Jesus name. Amen.