Behold the Unseen: Homily for the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

These are the opening words of the Nicene creed, which celebrates its 1700th anniversary in the year 2025. Critical in this first verse, on this day when we celebrate the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, are the words “of all things visible and invisible.”

There are too many Catholics these days, whose belief in Catholicism ends with the natural world, the things that they can see. The supernatural world, which cannot be seen, is explained away in various forms – “oh, heaven and hell are here on earth,” “angels are just an idea,” or worse “it is when people do good that they are angels.” A belief in Catholicism, without a belief in the supernatural, and the unseen, is however, a very poor Catholicism, if indeed Catholicism at all!

It is ironic, therefore, that for entities that we cannot see, the lectionary today has a lot to say about sight! And this is, once again, a very Catholic thing. Our faith has a way of bringing together opposites, things that, superficially, do not seem to belong together. To get there, however, we must take a detour through the unseen.

In the first reading, from the prophet Daniel’s nocturnal visions, we hear:

Thrones were set up
and the Ancient One took his throne….

Thousands upon thousands were ministering to him,
and myriads upon myriads attended him.

Brothers and sisters, when I celebrate the Mass by myself, I often feel silly, when in the course of the penitential rite, I confess, “to almighty God, and to you brethren” because there are no brethren visible! And then, I remind myself that every Mass is assisted by the thousands and thousands, and myriads upon myriads, who will attend and minister to the Ancient One who will take His place on the throne that I will set up. The corporal, the folded cloth that is placed over the chalice, is the throne set up prior to the sacrifice, for the Lamb of God to lie down on.

When we recognize this, we also recognize the meaning of the words of Our Lord to Nathaniel in the Gospel for the day:

"Amen, amen, I say to you,
you will see heaven opened
and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man."

At every Mass the heavens are opened and the angels ascend and descend on the Son of Man who is offered as sacrifice to God the Father.

But how are we to perceive these things, these mysteries, that are invisible to the naked eye? The response is faith. It is through faith that we perceive things supernatural. While faith is necessary, we must also aid this virtue through actions. All too often, churches are excessively illuminated. Indeed, as I have pointed out at other times, our churches, are illuminated as if they were stadia! One could, potentially put this down to the Babelian projects that contemporary man has taken up. Consciously or unconsciously, we seek to demonstrate our complete mastery over nature, turning in this case, night into day.

And yet, the church is not a stadium, and we are here not to celebrate a game, but a mystery. The night and darkness are a part of God’s plan. It is no coincidence that the prophet Daniel’s visions were nocturnal, for these are the hours, when our sense of sight abandons us, and our other senses are heightened. What we cannot see with the eye, we perceive through other senses in our mind’s eye.

And so, instead of illuminating the darkness out of our churches, we should perhaps return to dimly lit church interiors. Preferring the humble light of candles, and soft lighting, recognizing that excessive light is not necessary for the congregation, and only that much light is necessary which can enable the priest and the lector to read. In this state of chiaroscuro – of light and shadow, where we rely not on intellect, but on faith, perhaps we will see, or realise, the presence of the angels, who minister in their thousands to the Lamb.

Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, pray for us.

Saint Raphael, assist us in our spiritual blindness.

(A version of this homily was first preached to the faithful at the Sé Catedral, Old Goa on 29 Sept 2025.)

(Image reference: The Healing of Old Tobit, Paul Troger, first half of the 18^th cent., Residenzgalerie, Salzburg.)

Attend to Lazarus! Homily for the Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I often point out that the scriptures may be read in at least two ways. The first, is the literal, and the second, is the allegorical. And always, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ, it is the allegorical, or the spiritual, which offers us a richer feast before we proceed to the spiritual banquet of the Eucharist.

Today, through this parable of Lazarus and the rich man, we are once again offered the opportunity to obtain two readings, the first the immediate, based on a literal reading, the second based on an allegorical reading.

The rich man, in purple splendor, is not accused of being greedy or of carrying off the property of another, or of committing adultery, or, in fact, of any wrongdoing. The evil alone of which he is guilty is pride. Most wretched of men, you see a member of your own body lying there outside at your gate, and have you no compassion?

The first reading, should be simple enough. It has been preached on multiple times, since the times of the Fathers, and indeed, St. Jerome, in these lines above, has already offered you this reading in his reflection on this parable. To take a line from the first reading,

They drink wine from bowls
and anoint themselves with the best oils;
yet they are not made ill by the collapse of Joseph!

In other words, while rich and more than satiated themselves, they offer nothing to those who have nothing, or are near collapse. In other words, to echo the words of St. John Chrysostum, they do not care to offer alms to those who are in need. Brother and sisters, the words of Our Lord are very clear, we can be held guilty before God not only for the things we have done, our sins of commission, but also for those things that we have a duty to do, and did not, our sins of omission.

So, this is the literal reading. The allegorical reading, however, asks us to read all the characters in the parable as signs, or types. For example, almost at the start of the parable we are told that Lazarus “dined sumptuously each day.” In other words, there was a banquet at the home of Lazarus every day! To every Christian, the word banquet should immediately call to mind the spiritual banquet of the Eucharist. In other words, what our Lord is speaking of, is the Eucharist, and the rich man that he refers to, who dines sumptuously each day is every Christian, and particularly every Catholic , who are privileged to receive His Body and Blood at every Mass. In other words, it is we, who are the rich man of the parable.

And what is it that we are accused of? Of paying little heed to the “poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores” who lie at our doorsteps. My dear brothers and sisters, this poor man is representative not only the people who suffer material want, but more importantly of those who are deprived of the life-giving knowledge of Our Lord and do not have access to the spiritual banquet of His Eucharist.

Lazarus in the parable suffers from sores, and these wounds are washed not by the rich man, but by dogs who lick his wounds. These sores, my dear brothers and sisters, are representative of our sinful bodies which suffer the wounds of original, and other, sin if we are not rescued by baptism and the sacraments. The dogs represent the limited capacities of natural law and natural virtue. They can only offer a temporary relief, but not cure. And it is the cure of baptism that we should offer to wash those unfortunates who lie outside the door of the Church.

Brothers and sisters, the fate of the unbaptized is not unlike that of Lazarus, who was literally outside the threshold of the house of the rich man. They have heard of Christ, they have had exposure to the lives of Christians, and Christian values through the system of education, pioneered by Christian missionaries. But we must do more! We must ask ourselves, what is the church in India doing? Is it merely attending to the material needs of people, operating like some NGO – as Pope Francis warned us – and forgetting about its true wealth? Are we selfishly feeding on the Eucharist, while ignoring the poor who lie at our gates?

Today, the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman celebrates the Lay Apostolate and we would benefit from a quick reference to the teachings from the Vatican Council II in Apostolicam Actuositatem, the decree on the apostolate of the laity. The Council recognized that:

The Church was founded for the purpose of spreading the kingdom of Christ throughout the earth for the glory of God the Father, to enable all men to share in His saving redemption, and that through them the whole world might enter into a relationship with Christ. All activity of the Mystical Body directed to the attainment of this goal is called the apostolate, which the Church carries on in various ways through all her members. For the Christian vocation by its very nature is also a vocation to the apostolate. §2 (Italicised emphasis added)

As members of the church, we share equally, if in different capacities, in this role, as indeed the Council in the same document underlined:

From the acceptance of these charisms, including those which are more elementary, there arise for each believer the right and duty to use them in the Church and in the world for the good of men and the building up of the Church, in the freedom of the Holy Spirit who "breathes where He wills" (John 3:8). § 3

It is said of Our Lord, that the first time He came to save the world; the second He will come to judge it. The rich man of the parable was judged and found wanting. We have been warned, let us not, therefore, be found wanting when Our Lord returns in the glory!

(A version of this homily was first preached to the faithful in the Home for the Aged at the Convent of St. John of God, Old Goa on 28 September 2025.)

(Image reference: Saint Francis Xavier baptising Native Americans, Anonymous, c.1770, Museo del Prado, Madrid.)

Prudential Investments: Homily for the Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

I tell you, make friends for yourselves with dishonest wealth,
so that when it fails, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

All too often we come across portions of the Gospel, like this verse from today’s Gospel, that don’t seem to make sense. For example, in the parable that precedes this verse, it appears that Our Lord is commending the “dishonest steward!” So what do we do here? Are we to understand that Our Lord is encouraging us to be dishonest cheats?

Unlikely, since what Our Lord is recommending is the virtue of prudence. In mundane thought prudence is seen as that reason which is strategic, keeps us safe, and out of trouble. In Catholic teaching, prudence is the auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure of our choices; the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it. Our true good, of course, lies in our choosing those paths that will get us to heaven, and cultivating the virtue of prudence makes sure that our every decision will be directed towards that heavenly goal.

So, let us return then to the complicated Gospel message we have today. Part of the mystery can be resolved if we take a close look at the Gospel. There is no evidence to suggest that the steward is, in fact, guilty of any wrongdoing. He has only been accused, and this accusation has not been proved true. Indeed, the master in the Gospel seems to be unjustly acting on untrue accusations.

Similarly, we should not assume that, when he asks the debtors to write smaller amounts, the steward is shortchanging his master. Some commentators suggest that the steward may have well been giving up his legitimate commission, so that the master regained his principal amount. And this, my dear brothers and sisters, is what Our Lord means when he says “make friends with dishonest wealth;” act prudentially with the wealth of the world, use your money for greater things, like storing up treasures for yourself in heaven rather than in this world alone. For the wealth of the world, dear brothers and sisters, is nearly always tainted. Even if we work honestly, it is tainted by the fact that we may work honestly, for dishonest employers, or cruel states.

This fact of tainted money, and the dilemma of what to do with it, is something that I encountered in my days of secular activism. “How can we take dirty money” we left-leaning activists would ask each other. And indeed, how could we? For our taking of this money would compromise us. There is no way we can build a utopia – and this is the dream of the secular activist – with tainted money.

Fortunately, as Christians, we do not have to worry about building utopia. That task is, happily, the Lord’s! Our Lord is suggesting to us merely that the wealth of this world is to be used prudentially, that is trusting in His promise of eternal life to pave the road to heaven, the “eternal dwellings” of the Gospel.

And so, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, what should we be spending the dishonest wealth of this world on? The Catholic Church has been doing this for some millennia, which is, to take the wealth of this world, turn it toward the use of the liturgy, and to the use of almsgiving.

Last week, on the feast of St. John Chrysostom, I reflected on some of the saint’s words:

I am not saying you should not give golden altar vessels and so on, but I am insisting that nothing can take the place of almsgiving.

Using these words I highlighted that the Catholic way is often not either-or, but both-and. In other words, a healthy Catholicism does not focus either on almsgiving, or exclusively on spectacular liturgies. Rather, it focuses on both, reverent, respectful liturgies that are reflections of the divine beauty, and a strong focus on almsgiving.

There is a line from the film Hello Dolly (1969), which never gets old. In the film, the protagonist – Ms. Dolly Levi – shares with the object of her attention, Mr. Horace Vandergelder, her opinion that “Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around encouraging young things to grow.” Our Lord would have approved, dear brothers and sisters. This is the prudential use of the tainted wealth of this world: almsgiving, the support of the young and the marginalized, and the support of the Church and its liturgy. 

And if you do not trust me, my dear brothers and sisters, trust in the words of the Doctor of the Church, St. Robert Bellarmino, whose feast we recently celebrated:

Realise that you have been created for the glory of God and for your own eternal salvation; this is your end, this is the object of your soul and the treasure of your heart. You will be blessed if you reach this goal, but miserable if you are cut off from it.

Therefore consider that to be for your real good which brings you to your goal, and that to be really bad which cuts you off from this goal. Prosperity and adversity, riches and poverty, health and sickness, honor and ignominy, life and death should not be sought after for themselves by the wise man nor are they to be avoided for themselves: if they contribute to the glory of God and your eternal happiness, they are good and to be sought after; if they are obstacles to this, they are evil and to be avoided.

May God bless you!

(A version of this homily was first preached to the faithful gathered for the anticipatory Sunday Mass in the Royal Chapel of St. Anthony on 20 Sept 2025.)

(Image reference: Parable of the unjust steward, Marinus van Reymerswaele, c,1540, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna.)