Saint Michael and All Angels

The Collect

Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


The Psalm
103

The Readings
Genesis 28:10-17     +     Revelation 12:7-12     +     John 1:47-51

And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it . . . Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place--and I did not know it!"
~Gen. 28:12,16

Angels feature frequently and prominently in the Bible. We find them from Genesis to Revelation. They bookend the Gospels, also, from the Annunciation to the empty tomb. And though the word "angel" literally means "messenger," we see them in a variety of roles--manifesting God's presence to humans, interpreting visions to God's prophets, defending God's people, commanding God's armies, perpetually offering worship in God's presence. These are the roles for which they have been created, as the day's collect reminds us. Contrary to popular thought, the church has never taught (and the scriptures never imply) that humans become angels--rather, both humans and angels are creatures, deriving their life and purpose from and in God.

Though the presence and ministries of angels are a given throughout the Bible, we may find it challenging today to think of angels as they are depicted there. But as Christians we profess our trust in the God who is the creator "of all that is, seen and unseen." In the Eucharist we join our voices "with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven" in their unending hymn of praise to God (see Isaiah 6:1-3 and Revelation 4:6-11). To trust in the God revealed in Scripture, in the Creed, and in the liturgy, is to trust that life has depths of reality that we do not always see. This seems to me an important truth to remember in these days when so many of us feel isolated and alone. Because the truth is, we are never alone. To trust in the God we come to know supremely in Jesus--the One who himself bridges heaven and earth in today's Gospel!--is to trust that we will come to see and know greater things than we have yet imagined. Surely, we could not number the times already past when the Lord was in this place--and we did not know it!

Closing Prayer

O Christ our God, the wisdom, the power, and the glory of the Father, who dwelt among us as the Word made flesh and, having overcome the prince of darkness, returned to the eternal joys of heaven: Grant us, even now in the midst of this dark world, the full outpouring of thy splendor, and appoint thy holy angels to be our defenders, to guard our going out and our coming in, until by thy mercy we stand in the eternal light, where thou dost live and reign, world without end. Amen.

Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

The Collect

We thank you, heavenly Father, for the witness of your apostle and evangelist Matthew to the Gospel of your Son our Savior; and we pray that, after his example, we may with ready wills and hearts obey the calling of our Lord to follow him; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The Psalm
119:33-40

The Readings
Proverbs 3:1-6     +     2 Timothy 3:14-17     +     Matthew 9:9-13

As for you, continue in what you have learned and firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it, and how from childhood you have known the sacred writings that are able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
~2 Timothy 3:14-15

Of the four canonical Gospels, Matthew's is in many ways "the most Jewish." More than the others, his Gospel continually quotes the Old Testament scriptures, as being fulfilled in Jesus, who is the long-awaited Messiah. And in structure, Matthew's Gospel presents Jesus as a new Moses, which may itself be seen as fulfillment of the prophecy that God would raise up a "prophet like Moses" (Deuteronomy 18:15).

This devotion to the Law and the Prophets, to "the sacred writings," is reflected in the readings appointed for this feast of St. Matthew. And yet, somewhat ironically, the traditional author of this Gospel was hardly a pious scholar (at least not initially). As one of the twelve disciples, Matthew (or Levi) was called to leave a profession as tax-gatherer to follow Jesus. As Lesser Feasts and Fasts puts it:

"Tax collectors were viewed as collaborators with the Roman State, extortioners who took money from their own people to further the cause of Rome and to line their own pockets. They were spurned as traitors and outcasts. The Jews so abhorred them that pious Pharisees refused to marry into a family that had a publican as a member. Clearly, Matthew was hardly they type of man that a devout Jew would have had among his closest associates."

And yet this was the man chosen by the devout Jew Jesus to be one of the twelve disciples. This was the man whose name is connected with the Gospel that seeks to plumb the depths of the scriptures, and finds in them a witness to the life and work of Jesus Christ.

Consider your own life in comparison to Matthew's. 

Where do you see yourself in relation to "the religious institution"? 

Are you, or have you ever been, "an outcast"? 

What bearing, if any, does that have on your relationship to Jesus? 

What is your past and present relationship with scripture, and how does it impact the way you hear and understand the story of Jesus? 

What is the call of Jesus to you today?

Closing Prayer
Almighty and everlasting God, by whose Spirit the whole body of your faithful people is governed and sanctified: receive our supplications and prayers, which we offer before you for all members of your holy Church, that in their vocation and ministry they may truly and devoutly serve you; through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
~an Ember Day collect, 'For all Christians in their vocation' (BCP, p. 256)

Holy Cross Day

The Collect
Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

The Psalm

98

The Readings
Isaiah 45:21-25     +     Philippians 2:5-11     +     John 12:31-36a

Sing to the Lord a new song, *
for he has done marvelous things.
With his right hand and his holy arm *
has he won for himself the victory.

He remembers his mercy and faithfulness to the house of Israel,*

and all the ends of the earth have seen the victory of our God.
~ Psalm 98:1-2,4

The universality of God's victory over death is the theme of this feast. The Psalmist proclaims that, not only has it been witnessed by all the world, but God's victory is a cause of rejoicing for all nations and even the earth itself. In Isaiah, the LORD calls to all the ends of the earth: "Turn to me and be saved . . . To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear." The language is echoed in the letter to the Philippians. And in the Gospel, Jesus declares in no uncertain terms: "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." 

This universal victory is also reflected in the traditional customs and hymns of the feast, which assert that the wood of this shameful instrument of death has become for all the world the place of life, a tree bearing fruit to eternity:

Blest tree, whose chosen branches bore

the wealth that did the world restore,
the price which none but he could pay

to spoil the spoiler of his prey.

(Hymn 162 - The royal banners forward go)

There is an association here of the cross of Christ with the tree of life, which we read about not only in the opening chapters of Genesis, but also in the closing chapters of Revelation, where on the banks of the river of life that flows from the throne of God the fruit-bearing tree grows--and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations (Rev. 22:1-2).

Today we are reminded that the cross is not merely a symbol, not just a focus for meditation, or an unlikely example of hope. The cross is the very place of God’s love revealed for us--and all the depths of our sin and sorrow and brokenness are not greater than that love. At the place where we least expect it, even where we see the horror of death displayed--at that very place the evil and brokenness of the world is judged and driven out by the victory of God.

"The New Creation, Opened by the Cross" by Aidan O'Flynn and Jana Laxa; 
inspired by Paul Gauckler's "Sketch of the Floor Mosaic of the Byzantine-Era Baptistery at Oued Ramel, Tunisia"

Closing Prayer

We thank you, heavenly Father, that you have delivered us from the dominion of sin and death and brought us into the kingdom of your Son; and we pray that, as by his death he has recalled us to life, so by his love he may raise us to eternal joys; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.