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Dear Believer,
Stay strong, because in times of sorrow and pain, the sky is near. As you face these challenges, keep in mind that the value of the divine is not based on material things, but on the extent of His love, kindness, and compassion given to you.
It is urgent that each of us understands that God has done all of his acts of redemption according to the riches of his grace which he bestows freely. Each act was done for the sake of the salvation of these people, the chosen. And remember that God is love. It is nigh impossible for God not to love his creation. The great gift of the Holy Spirit, that precious promise from Jesus, allows us to capture a glimmer of those heavenly treasures. These passages let us see that darkness is healed and we can delight in the rich rewards of light.
Every believer can say like the Psalmist, “With you the fountain of life is open and in your light do we see light, and with loving kindness you shall extend your favor to those who know you.”
It’s not uncommon for believers to think primarily about the spiritual loss from which Jesus saves us. Less frequently do we realize the astounding list of riches that we gain through him. From wisdom to peace, from forgiveness to hope, from understanding to love and mercy, the list of what the Lord brings to us is impressive. It’s a great treasure list. People pay huge prices to get wisdom. Gold and fine gems are priced with very expensive tags. One who knows that they need help with these things and desires to have the Lord enrich their own life has found great riches indeed.
To help understand more about this, we might consider that mortal combat has been humankind’s most significant death-bringing activity. Assured victory is vitally important. God and His angels are always available, and our temporal state always limited. It is essential that we are both informed about available capabilities and are practicing them to the optimum level. St. Michael is the Heaven-sent spiritual capabilities expert, par excellence, and our very special protector. Our Lord is our Commander, with attributes and powers more fearful than any material colonel. Jesus utilizes His angelic force to protect us, as does an army’s fighter aircraft to protect ground forces.
This section is included to provide some brief practical evidence of St. Michael’s great importance, especially from an operational (angelic warfare) point of view. It is written to be practical and useful, rather than a detailed analysis. Following sections provide much more specific background to the topics mentioned here, such as greater insight into the concepts involved, the capacity in which various beings operate, authority and importance of our Lord, relief of the Holy Souls in Purgatory, and many more.
God will withdraw His light or grace from time to time to test and strengthen your faith, hope, and charity. Don’t be frightened and don’t think these trials are punishment for sin on your part, for the souls who love God most ardently are the ones who suffer the most, and who frequently suffer many of the greatest trials. The trial can be as simple as a feeling on your part that God is far away. The Lord will bring you great peace so that you will not mind these sufferings. All the saints have suffered much from this kind of confusion, and yet none of them has suffered an hour in comparison with the sufferings of Christ our Savior. If you feel you are losing your faith, throw yourself on God with great confidence, and He will give it back to you. The Lord asks no more than this – that we trust Him, without thinking about ourselves, defending or justifying ourselves.
If you choose to do God’s will and enter into a closer walk with Him, don’t expect all your troubles to be over. In fact, as you go on, you may find your troubles are just beginning. This needs a bit of explaining, I think. You see, when you become a child of the light, you enter into the service of a great and good military leader who is leading a war against the power of darkness and death, against Satan and his wicked angels. You have to expect that your enemy will take up arms against you. This should not surprise or discourage you. It should challenge and strengthen you.
The value and the strength of the prayer of the little persistent widow who overcomes the powerful resistance will be a motive for admiration in all people. No matter how difficult and involved it seems the negotiation process which has yet to be exhausted and no matter how formidable the forces of opposition and the enemy, the perseverance of the prayer works miracles. God wants us to pray, not to stress Him, but to make us fit to receive what He wants to give us when the right time comes. So, keep constant faith in his unlimited generosity and in His infinite love for all of us in the actual achievement of His blessings. The answer to constant prayer comes in Christ’s own time. And, hope and trust in that future positive answer fuels the pastor’s prayer and enthusiasm. The Saint urges the Christians to pray daily to the Lord and to never give up. Despairing of our hearts and losing peace.
It takes souls full of evils and weaknesses and imbues them with its virtue, in order that at a suitable time the sufferings and death of Christ be applied, being, through the will of the Holy Church, intimately associated with the merits of Christ. It’s an expression of love of a God who could do everything directly, but who lovingly wants men that ask, feel love and come near the One who is love, to give them his great graces which depend, more than anything, on a great love and capacity of asking for them. It’s a way of taking us from your surroundings just to bring us closer to God and through God to our brothers; in his heavenly homeland to prepare them for a duty of building a paradise in this world; it’s a form of loving us a lot! On a day we asked for help, hoping to receive what we desired in our prayer. Our supplication was heard, but through the disease and, afterwards, by feeling much peace and consolation. All this made me think of personal experiences that confirm everything that was said, expressed in today’s meditation.
Our exalted Creator, who is anti-material and filled to overflowing with all good things, gives gifts to humans out of concern for us and as a result of his wisdom. There is no way we can repay him for all he has done. We can only strive to help make those who have won his love into thanks-offerings to him who created all blessings. We try to shine onto the splendor of our light by other enlightenments besides our own in order to help others recognize their Creator. Regardless of how many will benefit, God does not give us anything without wanting recompense. Our exalted Creator has taken pity on those who are children of perdition and are his enemies by nature, and he gave his only-born unquenchable light as a ransom for their souls.
God’s wealth, wisdom, justice, power, goodness, and love are all beyond human capability to comprehend. We can neither prepare an exhaustive list of his heavenly treasures nor find out limits to what he can do. Yet God has granted humans, who are by nature neither rich nor wise, knowledge of divine mysteries. Our exalted Creator has promised to help those whom he has chosen as witnesses and has made worthy to receive his revelation. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we learn about hidden mysteries and have hope for what is to come. Our belief in the future happiness of the godly is based not on the nature of our existence but on our faith in the truth.
Heavenly treasures include immortality, life, happiness, peace, goodness, wholeness, riches, and our share of God’s spiritual immaterial assets. Isaiah, Christ’s spirit of prophecy, confirmed heaven’s treasure-list and defined it as consisting of the riches of Eternity, including the years of salvation, the wealth of the nations, and their kings supplying the kingdom’s citizens to worship before God in the Holy City, Jerusalem, to entertain God, the Angels, and each other just as St. Michael, the Good Angels, and the saints entertain us too. St. Peter promised a crown of glory that never fades away as a reward for shepherding the flock. The Lord has far more treasures than our earthly wealth that cannot, according to God’s words, satisfy or buy us anything truly lasting, meet our every need, be stored, stolen, or taxed away. Israel only wandered 40 years, and Samson’s judgeship only lasted 20. The earth will someday be gone. However, love, joy, peace, comfort, stability, and guidance that money cannot buy will last forever in our treasure-chests.
Most people equate heavenly treasures with money, especially funds and assets deposited at church or given in offerings, tithes, and donations, or used to support ministries, God’s work, and the poor. Lord Jesus also advised us in the Bible to lay up treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust could rip off. He advised the young rich ruler to sell off his possessions, give to the poor, and then heaven’s treasures, thrones, crowns, and mansions we could adorn with our earthly riches. St. Paul asked for a collection for the saints living in Jerusalem to show the Gentiles they had become a part of God’s kingdom and the Jews, heavenly so St. Michael can help heaven and make us mirthful one day, just as they were of our carnal things. Treasures, later. These are all correct, but they miss the truth Jesus was trying to establish. “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”.
Now, what should we do when we fall? Go at once to your angel or your heavenly mentor. Someone who gives you advice and prays for you. Say to your angel, your father, your leader, to Michael, save me! Invoke his name, calling upon him in every danger, for wherever you are, he is there with his angels. We have to remain there, humbly, lovingly, to serve one another, to encourage one another, and if necessary, to find ourselves again, to start again, to persevere in the interior life, in prayer. Today, it is principally St. Michael that we have to invoke. He is here, in your midst. We invoke his aid through prayer. At this very moment, we can say to him, “Save me, pray for me.” If we invoke him at this very moment, the prayer will evoke a response in his radiant heart conveyed by divine love, for he is always present.
St. Michael is not only the guardian of our souls, but as we have seen, he is also the celestial general of the heavenly armies and directs our actions. St. Michael is also the guardian of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost, which we receive at the Sacrament of Confirmation. We continually need the assistance of the Holy Spirit of Counsel, God’s grace, and wisdom. We possess, in the event of temptation or whenever else we need it, the possibility of invoking St. Michael.
It is little wonder why so many people find prayer to be so captivating. In fact, religions all around the world are largely comprised of personal and communal prayer forms. From the personal solitude of someone relaxing in a picturesque garden and talking in earnest conversation with God, to hymn singing or praying with a Church full of dedicated religious people, any form of prayer will elicit a positive response. It is felt that St. Michael is the guardian for all prayers, whether they are personal or communal. For all saints in heaven, it is a commitment to prayer that commendably creates an abundance of unending messages that continue to exalt the Lord. When this happens, we become open to a splendor of unending treasures from the splendiferous good of the Lord. Some may not realize how blessed they are. When people tap into these unending treasures from heaven, they may be offered a variety of opportunities that will fill all corners of this earth with help, service and knowledge, and when embraced, have the potential to bring about a pervasive well of peace throughout the world. These moments will project the twelve points of St. Michael’s shield into something that is far more momentous and glorious than we could ever fathom. In Latin, St. Michael’s name begins with Sanctus and ends with El. He is truly the sanctified darling and the exemplar of the Lord. Furthermore, he is the Angel of the Lord sent to lead the vanguard of the army of the Lord.
In our earthly lives, all too often we focus more attention on our physical needs as we strive to find our way through a plethora of financial, health, career, and relationship troubles. But sometimes these problems become too difficult to handle on our own accord. This is when we should ask for God’s help by praying. We should remember that we are not simply asking God to assist us with our personal concerns; we are also offering our prayers to a much broader universe of points that make up God’s omnipotence. Some may argue that prayer is nothing more than an appeal to the Almighty for His or Her assistance. This is most certainly true. Generally speaking, prayer is an appeal from our hearts for help and, often at times, forgiveness. When we pray, what truly matters is that we are prayerfully manifesting a part of ourselves and in turn giving back to the Lord something that is quite meaningful.
Dear Creator above,
we humbly seek Your support and peace in these trying times.
We trust in Your wisdom and find strength in Your promises. Bring us comfort and fill us with an unexplainable peace. Let Your love and faithfulness be a constant presence in our lives.
We ask all this in the name of Jesus. Amen. Keep in mind, dear one, that your divine rewards are not in the temporary instances of this realm, but in the eternal wealth of the Supreme Being’s domain.
Remain steadfast in your belief, and allow His illumination to lead you through each challenge.
Peace and blessings,
Saint Michael
Jesus has prepared something extraordinary for those ready to take the next step in faith and abundance. With this gift, you’ll discover renewed hope, prosperity, and the strength to overcome life’s greatest challenges.