Daily Gospel Reflection for September 29, 2014

Today's Gospel: John 1:47-51

We all tend to mirror Nathanael's surprise from this Gospel excerpt. We are not always aware of the intimate ways that God is with us and knows us when we often believe we are alone. We too may respond with profundity and humility when we acutely recognize Jesus as a personal, rather than distant, God.

As a child the verse, “the Lord counts all of the hairs on your head,” secretly delighted me. To realize that I, such a small and insignificant speck in the grand scheme of eternity, was so important to God that He knew every hair on my head? It was a grace of innocence. Like Nathanael, children encounter God with honesty and delight.

Today we celebrate the Feast of St. Michael and the Archangels, Gabriel and Raphael. From a young age, I developed a devotion to the angels, beginning with my guardian angel and expanding to the archangels, most notably St. Michael. It wasn’t difficult for me to ponder the truth that they were everywhere in a realm invisible to my human eye. As I transitioned to adolescence and began dabbling in the darker world of the supernatural, I never completely forgot this truth, though for a time, I lived otherwise. Once I renounced and confessed my involvement in the occult, St. Michael became a much more significant Heavenly helper as I delved into studying Church teaching. St. Michael became a close friend of mine and has remained such ever since.

The St. Michael prayer and chaplet are quite powerful when confronting matters of spiritual warfare, and it strikes me that St. Michael is often invoked (along with Our Lady) during official exorcisms. His name means, “Who is like God." It seems that the Heavenly angels possess a rare quality of loyalty that draws me back to that childhood wonder, respect, and reminds me of Nathanael's honest devotion to Jesus.

Ponder:

How am I duplicitous? In what ways can I be more Nathanael and the angels, honest and without guile, wholly devoted to God alone?

Pray:

St. Michael, you remind me that there is no one like God, and in this bold statement, I ask that you assist me to grow in the humility that is necessary for me to remain faithful to serving God through my daily life. Amen.

Copyright 2014 Jeannie Ewing