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Message from the Rector
By The Rev. Dr. Vincent Joseph Kopp
Dear Good People of St. Stephen’s,
Perhaps you have heard the expression “angels unawares.” It comes from Hebrews 13:2 and is rendered in the NRSV as follows:
“Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.”
I interpret this to mean that—at the very least—no encounter, no conversation is ever wasted; and that to pass up on an opportunity for engagement with another may mean I may miss some important message, some expression of the “good news.”
September 29th is the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels. In our Holy Women, Holy Men (pp. 612-613) we read that “angel” is from the Greek word angelos and literally means “messenger.”
Messengers come in many forms—visible and invisible. Elaborate outlines of “angelology” are not needed to understand what our own experience shows us: we are constantly surrounded by messengers who inform and support us in our relationships with God, our neighbor, and ourselves.
Four angels are named in Scripture—Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. Many more remain unnamed but all have in common their role as messengers. Seek them. Feel them. Welcome them.
Let us Pray:
The Collect for Saint Michael and All Angels (September 29) (p. 244)
“Everlasting God, you have ordained and constituted in a wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals:
Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.”
In Christ,
Vincent+
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