In Hebrew, the name Michael means “who is like God”. This name speaks of God’s greatness, power, uniqueness, and the answer to the question contained in this name is: “No one! There is no one equal to God!”

Yet there is something of God himself in Michael: he is an angel of God. Angels are God’s messengers, His envoys – that’s what the Greek word “angelos” means. In the Epistle to the Hebrews, it is said that angels are “ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation”, and Jesus assures us that the guardian angels of God’s children “do always behold the face of His Father which is in heaven”.

Today’s Gospel begins with a description of how Jesus healed a man with dropsy. Dropsy is actually not a disease, but a medical condition caused by some serious illness. For example, it can be caused by cardiac failure, lung problems, liver disease or pancreatitis. Dropsy can vary in severity, but it is uncomfortable and can be extremely painful. By healing this man, Jesus not only relieved him of his pain, but He did much more: He healed this man of the disease that had caused the dropsy.

St. Augustine tells in his “Confessions” how he was once about to die of some serious illness, and if he had died at that moment, he would have gone to hell with all his unrepented sins. It was only the prayers of his loving mother that saved both his body and, more importantly, his soul.

There are countless mothers who have prayed for the body and soul of their children in the same way throughout the centuries. And so our spiritual Mother – the Church – prays for all of us. It is hard to imagine anything more devastating than a mother having to bury her son. Especially if the mother is a widow and it is her only son. But there is something even more devastating: when a mother should bury her son knowing that her son’s soul will go to hell.

What does it mean to “seek first the kingdom of God”? God’s kingdom is not like earthly countries. It is not bound by place or time, it is not founded on either democratically elected or appointed institutions, it does not need to establish itself either by military force or diplomacy. God's kingdom does have borders, but they are not defined geographically, they run through human hearts.

Jesus healed many who were sick: paralyzed, blind, deaf, dumb, lepers… It is interesting that when the Bible speaks of the curing of lepers, it usually doesn’t use the word "to heal" but "to cleanse". Also, the lepers were the only ones who had to show themselves to the priests after being healed.

Leprosy, as a physical disease, is at the same time a symbol of a spiritual reality, namely sin, which burdens, defiles and destroys man, and from which we all need to be cleansed. Christ has bound the forgiveness of sins and cleansing from guilt to the promise He made to the apostles after His resurrection: „Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained.“