Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, archangels - Feast
John 1:47-51
Listen to the whole reading — MP3
First reading
Daniel 7:9-10,13-14
“I watched until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat. His clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames, and its wheels burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came out from before him. Thousands of thousands ministered to him. Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set. The books were opened. “I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. Dominion was given him, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which will not pass away, and his kingdom that which will not be destroyed.
Responsorial psalm
Psalms 138:1-2,2-3,4-5
I will give you thanks with my whole heart. Before the gods, I will sing praises to you. I will bow down toward your holy temple, and give thanks to your Name for your loving kindness and for your truth; for you have exalted your Name and your Word above all. In the day that I called, you answered me. You encouraged me with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth will give you thanks, the Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. Yes, they will sing of the ways of the Lord; for great is the Lord’s glory.
Gospel
John 1:47-51
Jesus saw Nathanael coming to him, and said about him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” Nathanael said to him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.” Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are King of Israel!” Jesus answered him, “Because I told you, ‘I saw you underneath the fig tree,’ do you believe? You will see greater things than these!” He said to him, “Most certainly, I tell you all, hereafter you will see heaven opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Lectio
Daniel's vision is overwhelming in its scale — thrones, fiery flames, thousands upon thousands of ministering spirits, ten thousand times ten thousand standing in attendance. On this feast of the archangels, we glimpse the vast unseen court that surrounds the Ancient of Days. It would be easy to feel small before such immensity, a single soul lost among the numberless hosts of heaven. And then the Gospel does something quietly astonishing: the same God whose throne is a river of fire notices one man sitting alone under a fig tree.
"Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you." There is no crowd in this scene, no spectacle — just Nathanael in an ordinary, unguarded moment, perhaps praying, perhaps only resting in the shade. And he was seen. This is the great reversal at the heart of the feast: the God attended by ten thousand times ten thousand is not too busy for you. The angels who ascend and descend on the Son of Man are messengers between that immense heaven and your small, particular life. You are not lost in the multitude. You are known by name, in your hiddenness, before you ever speak.
Nathanael's astonishment — "How do you know me?" — is the beginning of his faith. He had been half-honest in his doubts about Nazareth, and Jesus meets that honesty not with rebuke but with the tender words, "an Israelite in whom there is no deceit." To be seen truly, and still be loved, is what breaks a heart open. The promise that follows is that we will see greater things: heaven itself opened, the traffic of grace between earth and God flowing freely through Christ.
Where were you when you last felt truly seen — not judged, but known — and can you name the person or moment God used to reach you there? What is the fig tree you sit under today, the hidden place where you think no one notices you, and what would change if you believed you were already seen there?
Saint of the day
St. Michael Archangel - Feast
Ora reads this aloud, every morning, free. Ora