ARCHDIOCESE OF PHILADELPHIA

Dear Students, dear Boys and Girls,
Dear Parents,

What a wonderful opportunity this is to come together on this very beautiful feast day of the Holy Archangels and to be able to celebrate Mass here in the mother church of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. I know that you come from different parishes. I know that you come from different regions of our Archdiocese. And I am very happy to see you here. I am very happy to be with you and to lead you in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass this morning.

Today being the feast of the Holy Archangels, I would like to reflect with you for a few moments on what this means to all of us—what it means when we pray: “In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.” But, before we do that, I would like to take a couple of moments to say a word about Catholic education.

You know that the Second Vatican Council, dear parents, spoke a great deal about Catholic education. The Second Vatican Council wrote a whole document called Gravissimum Educationis, about the education of young people in Christ. And it is very important.

The Second Vatican Council emphasized the very nature of Catholic education. It emphasized the importance of Catholic education. It emphasized the content of Catholic education. It emphasized also the very important role of Catholic schools. And, above all, it emphasized the role of Catholic parents. The Second Vatican Council mentioned what a lofty role it is to teach young people, to help them in growing up and maturing in Christ. But the Second Vatican Council also pointed out that all the teachers that teach in Catholic schools, or elsewhere, have as their principal role is to assist parents. You, dear friends, have chosen to exercise personally the role of educating your children through home schooling, and you have made great sacrifices in order to do this. The Church understands this choice that you have made and is close to you and blesses you in all your efforts.

You know the Second Vatican Council also told us a great deal about what parents and teachers in Catholic schools must regard as the aim of Catholic education. It mentioned that Catholic education aims not only at fostering maturity in the human person, but it aims above all at ensuring that the baptized, as they are gradually introduced into the mystery of salvation, may grow ever more conscious of the gift of faith which they have received. That is the first thing— that the children, the young people, may grow ever more conscious of the gift of faith. And then, number two, that they may learn to adore God the Father, in spirit and in truth. Adoring God! The Second Vatican Council sees the adoration of God as a very important aim of Catholic education: to lead young people to reach this stage of being able to adore God . And then it adds, especially through liturgical worship. In other words, above all in the Mass, to bring young people, to bring children to participate in the sacraments, to bring them to participate in the prayer of the Church. And then the Second Vatican Council adds also: that the young people may be prepared to lead their personal lives according to a new nature—the gift of Baptism—in other words, in justice and holiness of truth, so that they will reach perfect maturity—perfect maturity, not just mental, intellectual and physical maturity, but that perfect maturity which is the measure of the fullness of Christ. And also it adds that they may make their contribution to the increase of the Mystical Body.

You see, dear parents, what a beautiful balance there is in the Second Vatican Council that speaks about each individual, each person arriving at maturity in Christ. At the same time this maturity in Christ involves a participation in the Body of Christ, an openness to others and all of this is what you, dear friends, are trying to do and expending great effort and great love. And so the Church encourages you to continue to do this. Even as you personally supervise the education of your children, you draw their attention to the fact that they have to take their place in the Mystical Body of Christ—that they are part of the community.

Another text in Vatican II tells us that the human being is actually defined according to his or her responsibilities to others, to his or her brothers and sisters and to history. And, so, it is indeed an important task that you have and the Church wishes you to know that she encourages you in all the effort that you make to bring the children personally through all the different facets of Catholic education, to help lead them to this full maturity in Christ, to this adoration of God, to this participation in the Eucharist, and, finally, so that they might fulfill their roles—not as isolated individuals—with their brothers and sisters in the Church. And so this is very important and you certainly have the blessing of the Church and the gratitude of the Church: the gratitude for the solicitude with which you wish to communicate to your children the fullness of faith, as the Second Vatican says. Gratitude, also, to all of you, dear parents, for the love that you show to the children that God has given you, and for the fact that you have given to your children, when it was possible, one of the greatest gifts you could give, a brother or a sister. All of this shows your love. And, so, for all of this the Church blesses you today and encourages you to be strong.

I wish to express appreciation for the efforts you make for yourselves and your children to take an active part in your parishes and to participate in the life of the parish family. This is an important dimension of belonging to the Mystical Body of Christ.

And what is so beautiful about our feast day today is that, in all the endeavors of our Christian lives and in our very participation in the Eucharist, we always have the assistance of the angels.

Today we gather in order to celebrate the three great archangels that we know of through the Scriptures: Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael. And each one of those archangels is revealed to us in Scripture as having a special role. We are most familiar with Saint Gabriel, because he announced to Mary the great mystery of the Incarnation. We are familiar with Michael, the Archangel who protects the Church in a special way from the devil, and Saint Raphael who had the role of guiding Tobiah in the Old Testament. In all of this, not only do we honor these three archangels for their specific roles, but we praise and honor God for His great and beautiful plan to create the angels and to give them to us in the Church in order to help us in coming closer to God.

And so today we pray in a very beautiful way in the words of the psalm: “In the sight of the angels I will sing your praises, Lord.” To sing the praises of the Lord in the sight of the angels is also to give thanks to God, to give adoration to God, who is so great in Himself and so powerful and so loving that He has created not only man, not only us human beings, but also another order of spiritual beings, the angels. They are part of His plan. They assist all of us come together in order to worship and adore God for all eternity.

Dear friends, the angels are our friends, the angels are with us and in the sight of the angels we sing praise to the Lord. Amen.