Today is the feast day of the two saints who are not human! (I remember this was a trivia question once, and I was thinking, "Non-human saints? What, like the Saint Bernard dog?" But I digress...)
There's a lot that could be said about these two saints, in terms of their intercession, and as always, I encourage you to look them up. But I'll just say this - since they are archangels, there's a certain sense in which they are believed to be especially helpful in, not only interceding in prayer against the demonic, but they actually act against the demonic, and are instrumental in the expulsion and exorcism of demons. Just read the book of Tobit, in which Raphael exorcises a demon that has been killing off men on their wedding night! And so, St. Raphael is also (at least for me) the patron saint of marriages, and when I know of a marriage that is oppressed by the "demon" of mistrust or resentment, I ask St. Raphael to pray with me for that couple.
Here's a photo I took of the statue of St. Michael on the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo (Castle of the Holy Angel) in Rome. The statue commemorates the end of a plague - so Michael is not drawing his sword here, but putting it away.
Dear friends - Please take 10 minutes to watch this personal update from me:
I mentioned in The Journey that I wrote a song based on Isaiah 2, which is one of my favorite OT passages:
In days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest mountain, and raised above the hills.
All nations shall stream toward it. Many peoples shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the house of the God of Jacob, That he may instruct us in his ways, and we may walk in his paths.” For from Zion shall go forth instruction, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations, and set terms for many peoples.
They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. House of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord!
I hope you like the song!
This is Michael Knowles' commentary on the murder of Charlie Kirk, and directly on the press conference about the arrest - In the middle is a great speech by the governor of Utah - overall excellent stuff if you have 1.5 hr to spend on it
with some Florida colleagues - all of them Protestant, but with varying traditions on the Eucharist - it was encouraging to hear how there are some Protestant denominations that have a real respect for the Sacrament (and I'm not talking about Anglicans or even Lutherans):
