| Choir VII | 15 November |
|---|---|
| Virtue of hope from the knowledge of God | St Albert the Great, St Leopold |
He wears on his chest in Hebrew letters the word of the Lord “Ephetha”—open up! He wears it like a seal that bursts open to whomever it is given. Just as the creation of man was followed by the Fall and then, in the faithfulness and mercy of God, by the Redemption through Our Lord Jesus Christ, so the word of the Father “Let there be!” was followed by the “No!” of the creature to its Creator, and the gate of Paradise closed forever. And now the Lord speaks: “Open up, open up again!” to man who stands before Him, blind and entangled in sin. O redeeming Word! Man not only receives his sight, he is healed in his soul and the soul rises again, freed from the bonds of death.
Saint Geriel,
who carries this precious word of the Lord, is an angel of hope from the Choir of Virtues. He bears the word “Open up!” as the knowledge of God. The angels of hope are not static like the angels of faith; they are dynamically urging and conveying the power of growing and becoming, also of becoming new; their rays are like fountains or springs of water.
Saint Geriel speaks his “Open up!” to the human spirit that was once very close to God and then darkened by sin. The angel speaks his “Open up!” to every sleeping soul that cannot pick itself up and lies as if buried under the jumble of its sins. It is the task of Saint Geriel to rouse the spiritually blind so that they want to seek and find God, and if they only want once, then they will also recognise Him.
The knowledge of God is something fundamental. We will be judged according to how far we have recognised God and drawn the lessons from it. But we will also all one day be shown the many wake-up calls of the angel, the “Ephetha!”—all the words that God has told us through the Holy Church. For every holy Sacrament of Penance is an “Open up!” for our soul; all the gifts of the Holy Ghost, every deed of love of God to our soul, is such an “Ephetha!” Why do we not open? Why do we have a thousand excuses? Because the bright sunlight of God is too dazzling for our own ego idol enthroned in the middle of our heart. We want to remain blind because it is more comfortable to be responsible for little than much; we are content with the reign of our ego.
How long does Saint Geriel often have to shake a soul until it opens up! If he were not an angel of tenacious, unwavering, persistent hope, perhaps he would have already passed us by and left us in our self-willed blindness. But behold! There he stands. Right now he stands before you: “Open up!” The flooding light of the knowledge of God is waiting for you.
Prayer: Holy Angel, Saint Geriel, give us the desire to know God more and more, to be able to love Him more and more. Speak thy “Open up!” to our sleeping spirit so that we may become awake and ready to rush towards the Lord when He comes, no matter when. Amen.