Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels
I was visiting with my mom a few days ago and we were talking about some decisions I was trying to make. It always makes me nervous sharing with her because she knows me so well. I am the same way with my kids. It seems no one in the world ever knows you as well as your mom does. And that is what happened. I hadn’t even finished what I was telling her and she looked at me (with her exasperated mother look) and said, “Oh, Gaaaay-elll! You know exactly what you are supposed to do!!” I was sunk! I rolled my eyes and said to her, “I know….I hate it when you do that—I don’t like it that you know me so well!” Then we both laughed. It is so true. I think it makes us uneasy to know that sometimes there is another person that knows us even better than we know ourselves. It is a knowing that transcends our intellect and reason.
Today the Church celebrates the Feasts of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. The reading from Daniel relates a vision that is nothing less than fantastical. We read of terrifying beasts and flaming thrones and battles between angels and demons. The Gospel passage from John stands in stark contrast to these images. As Nathaniel approached Jesus, Jesus says of him, “Here is a true Israelite. There is no duplicity in him.” Nathaniel responds, “How do you know me?” He was surely taken aback. How can someone he has never spoken to know this much about him? Obviously Jesus read his heart and knew this was a man of single heartedness. And thus he became one of the first disciples to follow Jesus.
What brings today’s reading together for me is the fact that there is something that reveals truth that is not of this ‘world’. The battle between the angels and the glory of God coming into power, the ascending and descending angels and the opening of the sky—it all points to something that transcends our reason and intellect. It is something that cannot be contained or described. We know it is true but we cannot define it and we can barely grasp it. There is a knowing here that belongs to God and is bestowed upon us in particular circumstances (like being a mother or sister or true friend) and we just know in our hearts that it is from God. The experience of this ‘knowing’ another is a gift. It is nothing less than sacred and holy. And even though we cannot truly comprehend, we know it transcends our capabilities and our own effort. I think we are invited to live in this realm. I believe we are being drawn to thinking and believing in a place that eludes us yet calls us beyond ourselves. It is not a place of fear or anxiety. It is truly a place of hope and light and love reflected by the Kingdom that awaits us. I pray this day that I can be cognizant of this true reality. The place where true ‘knowing’ is the only reality—the place where I will be truly known and loved and all will be as God intended.
--Gail Lyman