Angels and demons are a matter of great interest for people today, and because of today being the Feast of (Latin Mass: St. Michael; English Mass: the Archangels), I want to spend some time talking about these beings. It is important to know about these spiritual beings, but at the same time we must be careful as we learn about them. It is very easy to fall into an unhealthy fascination with them, especially when we study the fallen angelic beings. In general, while we do need to understand the differences between the good angels and the fallen angels, they are the same sort of beings. Therefore, if you are interested in these things, you really should study the angelic–not the demonic–for all that is angelic is found in a corrupted and evil form in the demonic.

In today’s Gospel passage, our Lord reminds us that it would be better for a great millstone to be put around our neck and we be cast into the sea than for us to mislead one of God’s little ones, that is, his faithful ones. (See Matthew 18:6, Mark 9:42) (English Mass: In St. Matthew’s parallel account of today’s Gospel,) The Lord reminds us that these little ones have angels in heaven who look upon the face of the Father. (Matthew 18:10) This passage is not only referring to our guardian angels, though, because there are so very many angels who have been sent to us. One of these angels is the Commander of God’s Angels, St. Michael, who was assigned as the Guardian Angel to the Nation and People of Israel. Because of this, he is the defender and protector of the Church, for the Church is the new Israel.

We hear of the defense that St. Michael mounts throughout the Bible, but most clearly in the (English Mass: Book of Revelation; Latin Mass: the Apocalypse of John). We hear that after a woman gave birth, war broke out in Heaven between Michael and his angels against the dragon who sought to destroy the woman’s child. As a result, the dragon and its angelic followers were cast out of Heaven–which is why we call them “fallen angels.” (Revelation 12:5-9) We hear of this battle in St. Luke’s Gospel, when our Lord says that he saw “Satan fall like lightning” as the disciples joined with St. Michael and the forces of Heaven in casting evil out of this world. (Luke 10:18) [NOTE: The idea that the angels were all cast out of Heaven at the same time and before the creation of the world probably came from Milton’s Paradise Lost; it doesn’t really have a biblical basis.] The devil and all of his evil angels were defeated and conquered by the Blood of the Lamb which was shed on the Cross of Christ and cast into the depths of Hell, and we join in this conquering victory when we join ourselves to Christ by conforming our lives to his. (Revelation 12:11)

Satan and the demons became even more furiously angry after being cast out for their treachery. Their already intense hatred for God (because of their jealousy) increased. They know that they cannot harm God, therefore, they target the creation he loves by targeting humanity, especially Christians. (See Revelation 12:17) The prophet Daniel warned that when St. Michael arose as the great prince of the heavenly host, it would be a time of great tribulation that is “unsurpassed in distress.” (Daniel 12:1) This time is now. It has been now since our Lord came. And if we look around the world, it is obvious. Our souls are the battleground on which this war is waged. There are many players, but there are only two sides. On one side, we have God and the Saints and those angels who follow him, led by St. Michael. On the other side, we have the great deceiver and all of his demons. We are the battleground, the prize, and the one who choses which side will win.

If we choose to take the easier road in this life, to trust in wealth and gold, to seek luxury and pleasure, to condemn those who call us to repentance, to exploit those around us for our own desires, then we have chosen the side of Satan. God will never abandon us, and he will give us chance after chance to turn back to him, but God will give us what we ask for. He will allow us to wallow in our sin if we so desire, like a pig wallowing in the filth of its sty. When our life on this earth ends, he will continue to give us what we asked for in this life, even if that means spending all eternity wallowing in our sin. Of course, we won’t be alone in this eternity. It will be spent with those fallen angels who are more powerful than us and who hate us so much that our minds are incapable of comprehending the fires and depths of their hatred. It will not be pleasant.

BUT: If we choose to keep God’s commandments–all of them, because we don’t get to pick and choose–and love him with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength, if we love our neighbor as ourself, if through our words and actions we bear witness to Jesus Christ, then we will join Heaven in making war on Satan and the fallen angels. We will suffer because of this. Satan, through his deception of Adam, became the ruler of this world. (Adam handed it over to him at the moment of that original sin.) While neither Satan nor his minions can rule our souls unless we allow it, there is sin and evil in this world, and it will come for us. Because of their incomprehensible hatred for us, the devil and his demons will try to turn us to worldly things and away from God. If we had to face this alone, we would not stand a chance. But we are not alone. We have not only our Guardian Angels, but all of the Hosts of Heaven, led by St. Michael on our side. We have all of the saints who, while in this life were lower than the angels, but in Heaven, are united to Christ and are higher than the angels because of that union. Most importantly of all, we have fighting for us the Lamb of God whose Blood, shed on the Cross, conquers all. The most challenging part of this battle is not finding assistance or allies, but is maintaining our vision of God, training the eyes of our hearts on Him, and accepting his grace to strengthen our wills so that we may not falter and turn away from the God who loves us.

This brings me back to where I started: that it is better for a millstone to be tied around our neck than to lead one of the little ones, just one follower of Christ astray. There are many false prophets in this world, who lead good Catholics astray through their error or evil ways. We must not follow them. We must not promote them. We must, therefore, be careful about who we listen to. St. Paul writes:

if someone comes and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, […] such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, who masquerade as apostles of Christ.
(2 Corinthians 11:4, 13)

This is what we believe as Catholics: We believe in Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died, buried, and who rose on the third day. He is our only means of salvation and holiness. There are no secret paths to holiness. There is no secret knowledge we must obtain. No sacramental–no matter how blessed it has been–or devotion–no matter how traditional and authentic it might be–can give us salvation. (That doesn’t mean they’re bad. They just can’t save us like Christ has.) The only way to Heaven is through Jesus Christ and him alone. This salvation from Christ can only be found in the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church which subsists in the Holy Catholic Church, which is in full communion with the Bishop of Rome who is first among equals in the college of bishops. Anyone who says or teaches otherwise to is in error, and that person must consider our Lord’s warning regarding the millstone. I recognize the severity and gravity of these statements, but eternal life hangs in the balance.

As Christians, we must bear witness to God with our lives and our words. We must assist our brothers and sisters in Christ in their battle against evil. It is not a choice for us. In Numbers, Moses says, “Would that all the people of the [LORD GOD] were prophets! Would that the [LORD GOD] might bestow his spirit on them all!” But is this not what has been done for each of us in Baptism? Is this not the gift that is deepened within us in the Sacrament of Confirmation? Is this not the same Spirit that unifies us with the Body of Christ and with our Lord himself when we receive the Most Holy Eucharist? (Numbers 11:29) As Catholic Christians we are called to be prophets to all the world. We have been anointed with the Holy Spirit in the Sacraments, and given the power of Christ to bring the Good News, news which conquers evil, to all the world.

Catholics must choose the hard path through this life. This path will always be obstructed by those who hate our Lord and, therefore, hate us. But we should not fear: we have all the hosts of Heaven, led by St. Michael, we have all the saints, and even God himself on our side. We will suffer in this life, but this life is like the furnace in which gold is tested and purified. (See Wisdom 3:5-6) Remember: we’re the gold that must be purified, not the furnace.

May we allow nothing to stop us from joining that golden treasury of God’s saints in Heaven.