Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - On the feast day of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, on Saturday 29th September Pope Benedict XVI presided Mass in St Peter's during which he ordained six new bishops: Mgr Mieczysław Mokrzycki, Mgr Francesco Brugnaro, Mgr Gianfranco Ravasi, Mgr Tommaso Caputo, Mgr Sergio Pagano, Mgr Vincenzo Di Mauro.
In his homily the Pope mentioned that it was the feast-day of the three Archangels and the fact that in the early Church “bishops were referred to as the ‘angels’ of their Churches, expressing in this way the resemblance between the bishop's ministry and the Angel's mission”. According to Sacred Scripture and Church tradition, “an angel is a creature who stands before God, who is oriented with his whole being towards God … Their true nature is the to exist through Him and for Him. This explains the il second aspect which characterises the angels: they are God's messengers. They carry God to mankind, they open heaven and in doing so open the earth. Precisely because they are close to God, they can be close to man”. The Pope underlined that “bishops should be men of God, they should live oriented towards God … the bishop must be a man of prayer, one who intercedes for humanity. The more he does this, the better he understands the people entrusted to his care and becomes for them an angel,- God's messenger, who helps them find their true nature, find themselves and live the idea that God has for them.”
Benedict XVI then outlined the figures of the three Archangels and their tasks, putting the latter in relation to the duties of the bishop. Michael “defends the cause of the unicity of God against the presumption of the Dragon, the ‘ancient serpent', as Saint John says. The serpent strives continually to make men believe that God must disappear so they can become great; that God is an obstacle to our freedom and so we must put Him to one side … those who accuse God, accuse man. Faith in God defends man in all his weaknesses and inability: God's brightness shines on every person. It is the task of the bishop, as a man of God, to make room for God in the world against all negation and in this way to defend the greatness of man”. The Pope urged the new bishops to truly be: “‘guardian angels' of the Churches entrusted to you! Help the people of God, whom you must precede on its pilgrimage, to find joy in the faith and to learn to discern spirits: to welcome good and reject evil, to remain and by virtue of the hope of the faith to grow as persons who love in communion with God-Love.
The Archangel Gabriel is the messenger of the Incarnation of God. “He knocks at Mary's door and through him God asks Mary for her "consent" to his proposal to be the Mother of the Redeemer- said Pope Benedict -. Again and again the Lord knocks at the door of every human heart … the Lord stands at the door, at the door of the world and the door of every hear. He knocks and be invited to enter: God's incarnation, his taking on human flesh, must continue to the end of time… Christ knocks. Still today he needs people who, so to say, make their flesh available to him, offer him the matter of the world and life, fostering in this way unification of God and the world, reconciliation of the universe. Dear friends, your task is to knock in Christ's name on the hearts of men and women. By entering in union with Christ yourselves, you can assume to task of Gabriel: carry Christ's call to mankind.”
The Archangel Raphael is entrusted with the task of healing. “When Jesus sends his disciples on mission, the task of announcing the Gospel is always accompanied by the task of healing… Announcing the Gospel, means healing already in itself, since man needs above all the truth and love”. In the Book of Toby Archangel Raphael “heals communion between man and women which has been broken” and “he heals blind eyes”. “So, spontaneously - the Pope said - we think of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of Penance which, in the most profound sense of the word, is a sacrament of healing. The real wound of the soul and in fact, the reason for all other wounds, is sin. And only if there exists forgiveness by virtue of the power of God, by virtue of the power of Christ's love, can we be healed, can we be redeemed.”
The Holy Father ended his homily recalling Jesus' words in the day's Gospel - "Remain in my love" - and addressing the new bishops he said: “Remain in His love! Remain in that friendship of love which he offers you again at this moment! Then your life will bear fruit, fruit which will remain”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 1/10/2007 - righe 52, parole 801)
