MAC KIRK

ST Michael and All Angels    - Sept 29      Today we celebrate the feast day of our parish and we enter an area that is certainly in Scripture but this is an area of great mystery .   We can only as Christians bow before what we hear in reverence.   When I think of angels I think of that marvelous vision of Isaiah in Chapter 6 of his prophetic book where there is a picture of “seraphims with six wings”.   Isaiah sees them as they cry out ,” Holy , Holy , Holy   is the LORD of hosts”.   Seraph is from the root to burn and these creatures may have been angelic beings that were flying fiery serpents.   Of course there are other kinds of angels-----we think of cherubs as well.   They are mentioned in Genesis 3:24 where they guard the entrance to the Garden of Eden.   As well they sit over the Ark of the Covenant-Exodus 25:20 “ And the cherubims shall stretch their wings on high”   They had wings we know for sure and you can read Ezekiel 28:11-15 and gather that Satan was once a good

“The Balm of Gilead”         Jeremiah 8:18-9:1    Psalm 79:1-9   1 Timothy 2:1-7   Luke 16:1-13   Healing comes to us in many ways and in many shapes in our lives.   It may be that it takes many years to work through some of the problems and hurts we have felt .   I heard someone say that you know that forgiveness , a kind of healing ,   happens when we no longer wish ill on someone who has harmed us.   That means we have finally let go of our anger and frustration and have forgiven.   In the Old Testament we read of healing that came from Gilead. Genesis 37 said “ Ishmaelites came from Gilead with their camels bearing spicery and balm and myrrh going to carry it down to Egypt” vs. 25   “It was a healing compound made from the resinous gum of a bush which grew plentifully in the area of Gilead” Wikipedia   In our OT lesson we read , “ Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?”   Jer 8:22.   The people had gone far from what God had asked of them.   They had pro