ANGELS OR SAINTS -- WHICH IS BETTER?

Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Jn 1:47-51

Though their names are introduced with the title “Saints”, we do not celebrate today the feast of three saints. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael are not human beings. Only human beings can become saints. Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael are angels. They are archangels, meaning they are angels each entrusted by God with a special mission. Angels are generally “messengers”. The word “angelos” is the Greek word for “messenger”.

Michael, whose name means “Who is like God?”, leads the host of angels who chose to serve God. His opponent is Lucifer, whose name comes for the Latin “lux”, meaning “light”, said to be the most beautiful of all the angels but turned into the Prince of Darkness because he refused to serve God, leads the legion of devils who were once angels but rejected serving God. We can read the battle between Michael and his angels versus Lucifer and his devils in the Book of Revelation. Michael’s name reminds us that God is one and like no other.

Gabriel’s name means “Strength of God”. We remember his two visits in the New Testament: one to Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist, and the other to Mary, the maiden from Nazareth, who became the mother of the Lord. True to his name, his first visit opened the dry womb of the barren woman, Elizabeth, who gave birth to John the Baptist in her old age. His second visit revealed the strength of God in making a virgin conceive His Only Begotten Son. We also recall that the strength of God made Zachariah unable to speak because of his unbelief in what Gabriel announced to him in his first visit. These visits are recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

Raphael, meaning “God’s medicine”, is the archangel who assisted Tobias in his journey. He likewise healed Tobit, Tobias’ blind father, and gave Tobias a wife whose name was Sarah. We can read this in the Book of Tobit in the Old Testament.

Tradition has it that there are other archangels, but only these three are mentioned in the Bible in relation to the special task given to them by God or their special roles in the history of salvation.

Again, we call them “saints” but they are not “saints” in the strict sense of the word because only human beings can become saints. Yes, only you and I can become saints. Neither the angels nor the archangels can become saints because they are spirits. In fact, referring to them with the masculine pronoun is not totally accurate, too. Angels and archangels are neither male nor female. They are spirits.

Once during a retreat I attended, our spiritual director mentioned that there are three sins of the fallen angels. The first is their rejection to serve God. The second is their refusal to worship the Second Person of the Trinity, Jesus Christ, in His incarnated form. The third is their envy of us, human beings, who are loved by God so much so that He gave us even His only Son who in turn took upon Himself our human nature.

We are not angels and archangels. But we are loved by God more than we know. He gave us His only Son who became one like us, NOT LIKE THE ANGLES, in all things but sin so that in becoming like us we may become like Him. What a priceless gift that not even to angels God has given! What have we done to this inestimable gift?

Yes, we are not called to become angels. We are destined to become like Jesus. We are not angels. We are saints. Which do you think is better? What do you aspire to become?