Jesus in today`s gospel speaks of “angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” He’s referring to an incident narrated in the Book of Genesis. Jacob had a dream in which he saw a ladder with its feet on the ground and its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were moving up and down the ladder. Yahweh appeared to Jacob, standing over him, and he promised Jacob both numerous descendants and also the land on which he was sleeping.

The image of the ladder with Yahweh at the top and the angels moving up and down it, describes quite literally the function God has given them to play in the lives of human beings. Angels are messengers of Yahweh, intermediaries between God and humans. They bring God’s word and his blessings to men and women. They are the agents through whom God intervenes in the lives of individuals and of human society, often enough quite dramatically.

Gabriel, for instance, had a main role in initiating God’s plan of redemption. He it was who put to Mary God’s invitation to conceive within her womb under the power of the Holy Spirit a child who will be holy and will be called Son of God.

The name ‘Michael’ means “Who is like God?” Michael was venerated by the Jewish people. In the Book of Daniel he is called “the Great Commander who defends the sons of [the Jewish people].” The New Testament recognizes him as the leader of the angelic hosts in their victorious battle over the forces of evil which were led by Satan.

The meaning of the name `Raphael’ is “God has healed.” Raphael was the companion Tobias chose to accompany him on a journey to a town two days distant from his hometown.

Raphael protected Tobias on the journey, found a wife for him, and freed her of a curse that was upon her. He also cured Tobias’s father of his blindness.

The angels serve us. They are the personalized manifestation of God’s goodness to and love for us. It is as though the Lord loved us so tenderly and desired to show his goodness to us so intensely, that his love and his goodness became incarnate in the guise of the angels.