Sep 21, 2025 Written by 

Same Vocation, Brethren in Vocation

A true act of entrustment to the archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel, asking them to help us in the fight against the temptations of the devil, to bring us the good news of salvation and to take us by the hand so that we do not stray from the path of life, thus cooperating in 'God's plan of salvation'. This is the prayer recited by the Pope during Mass celebrated in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta on Friday, 29 September, the feast day of the holy archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

"In the opening prayer at the beginning of Mass," Francis immediately pointed out, "we prayed as follows: 'O God, who calls angels and men to cooperate in your plan of salvation, grant us pilgrims on earth the protection of the blessed spirits, who stand before you in heaven to serve you and contemplate the glory of your face.'"

"One thing that attracts attention from the outset," the Pope explained, "is that angels and we have the same vocation: to cooperate in God's plan of salvation; we are, so to speak, 'brothers' in vocation." Angels "stand before the Lord to serve him, to praise him and also to contemplate the glory of the Lord's face: angels are great contemplatives, they contemplate the Lord; they serve and contemplate. But the Lord also sends them to accompany us on the path of life."

"Today we celebrate three of these archangels," said the Pontiff, "because they played an important role in the history of salvation. And we celebrate these three because they also play an important role in our journey towards salvation."

Starting with "Michael — the great Michael — the one who wages war against the devil," explained the Pope, referring to the passage from Revelation (12:7-12) proposed by the liturgy and emphasising: "In the end, when the dragon fought against Michael, when he was defeated, the text says: 'The great dragon, the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole inhabited earth, was thrown down.'" The devil is 'our enemy' and this, explained the Pontiff, is 'a vision of the end of the world, but in the meantime he causes trouble, he causes trouble in our lives: he always tries to seduce, as he seduced our mother Eve, with convincing arguments: "Eat the fruit, it will do you good, it will teach you many things"'. And so, "like the serpent, he begins to seduce, to seduce, and then, when we have fallen, he accuses us before God: 'He is a sinner, he is mine!'"

So, Francis reiterated, '"this is mine" is precisely the devil's word, he wins us over by seduction and then accuses us before God: "He is mine, I will take him with me". And "Michael wages war against him, the Lord asked him to wage war: for us who are on our way, in this life of ours, towards heaven, Michael helps us to wage war against him, not to let ourselves be seduced by this evil spirit who deceives us with seductions." Precisely "for this reason, today we thank St Michael for this work he does for the Church and for each one of us, and we ask him to continue to defend us.".

The second archangel, "Gabriel, is the one who brings good news, the one who brought the news to Mary, to Zechariah, to Joseph," Francis continued. Gabriel, therefore, brings "good news and the good news of salvation." He too "is with us and helps us on our journey." Especially when, as often happens, "with so much bad news or news that has no substance, we forget the good news, that of the Gospel of God, of salvation, that Jesus came to us and brought us God's salvation." And it is precisely "Gabriel who reminds us of this, and for this reason today we ask Gabriel to always announce the good news to us." Gabriel, Francis prayed, "remind us of God's good news, of what God has done."

"And then there is the third archangel, Raphael, who helps us on our journey, who walks with us," said the Pontiff. "Michael defends us, Gabriel gives us the good news, and Raphael takes us by the hand and walks with us, helping us with the many things that happen along the way." To Raphael, "we must ask: please, do not let us be seduced into taking the wrong step, into taking the wrong path; guide us on the right path, on the good path. You are our companion on the journey, as you were Tobias' companion on his journey."

The three archangels, Francis continued, "are before God, they are our companions because they have the same vocation in the mystery of salvation: to carry forward the mystery of salvation. They adore God, they glorify God, they serve God." And so, "today we simply pray to the three archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael," the Pope invited, suggesting the words of the prayer: "Michael, help us in our struggle; everyone knows what struggle they have in their lives today, each of us knows the main struggle, the one that puts our salvation at risk. Help us, Gabriel, bring us news, bring us the good news of salvation, that Jesus is with us, that Jesus has saved us and gives us hope. Raphael, take us by the hand and help us on our way so that we do not stray from the path, so that we do not remain stationary: always walking, but helped by you."

[Pope Francis, St. Marta, in L'Osservatore Romano, 30/09/2017]

47 Last modified on Sunday, 21 September 2025 06:02
don Giuseppe Nespeca

Giuseppe Nespeca è architetto e sacerdote. Cultore della Sacra scrittura è autore della raccolta "Due Fuochi due Vie - Religione e Fede, Vangeli e Tao"; coautore del libro "Dialogo e Solstizio".

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The Church, having before her eyes the picture of the generation to which we belong, shares the uneasiness of so many of the people of our time (Dives in Misericordia n.12)
Avendo davanti agli occhi l'immagine della generazione a cui apparteniamo, la Chiesa condivide l'inquietudine di tanti uomini contemporanei (Dives in Misericordia n.12)
Addressing this state of mind, the Church testifies to her hope, based on the conviction that evil, the mysterium iniquitatis, does not have the final word in human affairs (Pope John Paul II)
Di fronte a questi stati d'animo la Chiesa desidera testimoniare la sua speranza, basata sulla convinzione che il male, il mysterium iniquitatis, non ha l'ultima parola nelle vicende umane (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
Jesus reminds us today that the expectation of the eternal beatitude does not relieve us of the duty to render the world more just and more liveable (Pope Francis)
Gesù oggi ci ricorda che l’attesa della beatitudine eterna non ci dispensa dall’impegno di rendere più giusto e più abitabile il mondo (Papa Francesco)
Those who open to Him will be blessed, because they will have a great reward: indeed, the Lord will make himself a servant to his servants — it is a beautiful reward — in the great banquet of his Kingdom He himself will serve them [Pope Francis]
E sarà beato chi gli aprirà, perché avrà una grande ricompensa: infatti il Signore stesso si farà servo dei suoi servi - è una bella ricompensa - nel grande banchetto del suo Regno passerà Lui stesso a servirli [Papa Francesco]
At first sight, this might seem a message not particularly relevant, unrealistic, not very incisive with regard to a social reality with so many problems […] (Pope John Paul II)
A prima vista, questo potrebbe sembrare un messaggio non molto pertinente, non realistico, poco incisivo rispetto ad una realtà sociale con tanti problemi […] (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
At first sight, this might seem a message not particularly relevant, unrealistic, not very incisive with regard to a social reality with so many problems […] (Pope John Paul II)
A prima vista, questo potrebbe sembrare un messaggio non molto pertinente, non realistico, poco incisivo rispetto ad una realtà sociale con tanti problemi […] (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
There is work for all in God's field (Pope Benedict)
C'è lavoro per tutti nel campo di Dio (Papa Benedetto)
The great thinker Romano Guardini wrote that the Lord “is always close, being at the root of our being. Yet we must experience our relationship with God between the poles of distance and closeness. By closeness we are strengthened, by distance we are put to the test” (Pope Benedict)
Il grande pensatore Romano Guardini scrive che il Signore “è sempre vicino, essendo alla radice del nostro essere. Tuttavia, dobbiamo sperimentare il nostro rapporto con Dio tra i poli della lontananza e della vicinanza. Dalla vicinanza siamo fortificati, dalla lontananza messi alla prova” (Papa Benedetto)
The present-day mentality, more perhaps than that of people in the past, seems opposed to a God of mercy, and in fact tends to exclude from life and to remove from the human heart the very idea of mercy (Pope John Paul II)
La mentalità contemporanea, forse più di quella dell'uomo del passato, sembra opporsi al Dio di misericordia e tende altresì ad emarginare dalla vita e a distogliere dal cuore umano l'idea stessa della misericordia (Papa Giovanni Paolo II)
«Religion of appearance» or «road of humility»? (Pope Francis)
«Religione dell’apparire» o «strada dell’umiltà»? (Papa Francesco)

Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 1 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 2 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 3 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 4 Due Fuochi due Vie - Vol. 5 Dialogo e Solstizio I fiammiferi di Maria

duevie.art

don Giuseppe Nespeca

Tel. 333-1329741


Disclaimer

Questo blog non rappresenta una testata giornalistica in quanto viene aggiornato senza alcuna periodicità. Non può pertanto considerarsi un prodotto editoriale ai sensi della legge N°62 del 07/03/2001.
Le immagini sono tratte da internet, ma se il loro uso violasse diritti d'autore, lo si comunichi all'autore del blog che provvederà alla loro pronta rimozione.
L'autore dichiara di non essere responsabile dei commenti lasciati nei post. Eventuali commenti dei lettori, lesivi dell'immagine o dell'onorabilità di persone terze, il cui contenuto fosse ritenuto non idoneo alla pubblicazione verranno insindacabilmente rimossi.