Sunday 29 September marked the feast day of St Michael and All Angels, or Michaelmas – hence our third school term is called the Michaelmas term.

The term ‘angel’ is derived from the Greek word which means ‘bringer of good news’. Similarly, the term ‘gospel’ (as in, the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John) comes from the Greek word for ‘good news’. Angels, referred to throughout the Bible, are messengers from God. Think, for example, of the angel Gabriel who brought Mary news that she was to be mother of God’s Son, Jesus Christ.

In considering the implications of Michaelmas for us today, Linda Ryan (2012) considers Hebrews 13:2: “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.” Ryan has the following to say, in an excerpt from an Episcopal Café article https://www.episcopalcafe.com/feast_of_michael_and_all_angels/

Heaven knows, I’ve had experience with angels in my life who have borne me up when I was falling, gave me a word when hope was flagging, and even now and again pulled me out of messes I’d gotten myself into. Those angels, very human angels, didn’t preach good news, they lived it and showed it. They weren’t awe-inspiring, haloed, winged beings shining brighter than the sun, they were regular recognizable human beings who, I am convinced, God sent at that moment when I needed them most. Knowing God is there is powerful and wonderful, but sometimes a human pair of arms is what I need.