angels and demons

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Saturday, 15 August 2020 : Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Revelations 11 : 19a and Revelations 12 : 1-6a, 10ab

Then, the Sanctuary of God, in the heavens, was opened, and the Ark of the Covenant of God could be seen inside the Sanctuary.

A great sign appeared in heaven : a woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant, and cried out in pain, looking to her time of delivery.

Then, another sign appeared : a huge, red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and wearing seven crowns on its heads. It had just swept along a third of the stars of heaven with its tail, throwing them down to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman, who was about to give birth, so that, it might devour the Child as soon as It was born.

She gave birth to a male Child, the One Who is to rule all the nations with an iron sceptre; then, her Child was seized, and taken up to God, and to His throne, while the woman fled to the desert, where God had prepared a place for her. Then, I heard a loud voice from heaven : Now has salvation come, with the power and the kingdom of our God.

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Thursday, 29 September 2016 : Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White
Daniel 7 : 9-10, 13-14

I looked and saw the following : Some thrones were set in place and One of Great Age took His seat. His robe was white as snow, His hair white as washed wool. His throne was flames of fire with wheels of blazing fire. A river of fire sprang forth and flowed before Him. Thousands upon thousands served Him and a countless multitude stood before Him.

Those in the tribunal took their seats and opened the book. I continued watching the nocturnal vision : One like a Son of Man came on the clouds of heaven. He faced the One of Great Age and was brought into His presence. Dominion, honour and kingship were given Him, and all the peoples and nations of every language served Him. His dominion is eternal and shall never pass away; His kingdom will never be destroyed.

Alternative reading
Revelations 12 : 7-12a

War broke out in heaven with Michael and his Angels battling with the dragon. The dragon fought back with his angels, but they were defeated and lost their place in heaven. The great dragon, the ancient serpent known as the devil or Satan, seducer of the whole world, was thrown out. He was hurled down to earth, together with his angels.

Then I heard a loud voice from heaven : Now has salvation come, with the power and the kingdom of our God, and the rule of His Anointed. For our brothers’ accuser has been cast out, who accused them night and day, before God. They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

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Friday, 2 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Homily and Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day we commemorate the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, namely the angels which God had commissioned to be alongside each and every one of us mankind, as our guide, our protector and our intercessor before the Lord, the one who protected us from the depredation and attacks by the devil and his fellow fallen angels, the tempters.

It is in the aim of the devil to see our downfall into the temptations of the world, of the pleasures of the world and sin, just as he first tempted our very first ancestors, Adam and Eve in the Gardens of Eden. By that temptation, our first ancestors chose to listen to the words and sweet lies of the devil rather than to obey the Lord our God, and thus they were cast out of Eden because of their disobedience.

And yet God who loves us all, as He is our Father, and we are His children, has decided to continue to love us and to watch over us in this world. God sent His angels to watch over us and protect us, to keep us safe from the attacks by the devil and his angels, as all of them continue daily to attack us and hoping to drag us with them into the eternal fire and suffering of hell.

And our guardian angels are there to protect us from their attacks, and they are there to remind us whenever we stumble, by their words silently resounding deep within our hearts, competing with the words of the tempters and the devil, fighting over our souls, influencing us either to follow the Lord, in the case of our Guardian Angel, or to follow the path of sin, for the case of Satan and his tempters.

If we read the Scriptures today, we certainly should be able to see and notice how much God cares for all those who keep their faith in Him, and how God will keep them away from stumbling by sending His angels to help them. Thus, it is the same if we are faithful and continue to devote ourselves to Him. God will preserve us, protect us and keep us safe from the assaults of the evil one.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, have we followed what our guardian angels had told us? Or did we rather prefer to listen to the devil and to his lies and untruths, as he had done the same to countless men and women who came before us? Shall we open wide the doors of our hearts, so that our guardian angel may come inside and reveal to us the love of God and the truth which He had conveyed through the angel?

Have we thanked our guardian angel for all that he had done for us? He never ceases to work hard in order to protect us from harm, just as our loving Father continuously show His concerns for us mankind, His children. Those who are righteous are surrounded by the angels of the Lord, who will keep us safe and protected from harm, and they guard our ways to keep us in the faith.

But even so, even if we have been faithful, we still have to be vigilant and be careful against the assaults of Satan and his allies, who constantly seeking our downfall and destruction. God does not want us to fall, and He helps us with His angels, but ultimately the choice rests on us, in our own free will to choose either to follow God or to follow the devil.

Let us therefore, on this feast day of the Holy Guardian Angels, strive to become ever better followers of our Lord, and be more faithful to Him in all actions, words and deeds. Let us not take the gift of our guardian angels for granted, but work closely together with the guardian angels, to keep our path straight and to keep us on the way to salvation.

May Almighty God who sent His angels to protect the weak and the downtrodden, to lift them out of harm’s way, keep us safe and protected from the wickedness of the evil one. May He bless us in all of our endeavours and dealings, that everything we say and do will continue to be worthy for the Lord and we may be gathered together in the most Holy Presence of our Lord. God bless us all. Amen.

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Friday, 2 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Gospel Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Matthew 18 : 1-5, 10

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked Him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Then Jesus called a little child, set the child in the midst of the disciples, and said, “I assure you that, unless you change and become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes lowly like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and whoever receives such a child in My Name receives Me.”

“See that you do not despise any of these little ones, for I tell you : their angels in heaven continually see the face of My heavenly Father.”

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Friday, 2 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 90 : 1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 10-11

You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High, who rest in the shadow of the Almighty, say to the Lord, “My stronghold, my refuge, my God in Whom I trust!”

He will rescue you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions and give you refuge under His wings.

You shall not fear the terror of the night nor the arrows that fly by day, nor the pestilence that stalks by night, and the plague that destroys at noonday.

No harm will come upon you, no disaster will draw near your home. For He will command His angels to guard you in all your ways.

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Friday, 2 October 2015 : 26th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

Exodus 23 : 20-23

YHVH said to Moses, “See, I am sending an Angel before you to keep you safe on the way and bring you to the place I have made ready. Be on your guard in His presence and listen to Him; do not resist Him for He will not pardon your wrongdoing, for My Name is in Him.”

“If you listen to Him and do what I say, I will be enemy to your enemies and the opponent of your opponents. My Angel will go before you and bring you to the land of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites and the Jebusites; all these I will destroy.”

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Sunday, 3 August 2014 : 18th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Romans 8 : 35, 37-39

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will it be trials, or anguish, persecution or hunger, lack of clothing, or dangers or sword?

No, in all of this we are more than conquerors, thanks to Him who has loved us. I am certain that neither death nor life, neither angels nor spiritual powers, neither the present nor the future, nor cosmic powers, were they from heaven or from the deep world below, nor any creature whatsoever will separate us from the love of God, which we have in Jesus Christ, our Lord.