The Magnificent Seven

Learning how art imitates life

09/29/2017

Revelation 12:7-12AB War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have salvation and power come, and the Kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night.

             The great Russian novelist, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, once said that, “art imitates life.” That means what we watch in the movies, what we admire in paintings, what we read in poems, what we listen to in music, all artistically express some lived human experience. That’s how I justify going to the movies all the time.

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              Did you see the movie “The Magnificent Seven”? It’s about seven gunslingers who come to the aid of a town assaulted by outlaws. The 2016 remake starred Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawke, Chris Pratt among the magnificent seven. What intrigued me about the film was the number seven and how each member of the seven had a unique skill set. One is a notorious gambler, another is a sharpshooter, another is an expert with wielding knives, another is a superb tracker, and still another is a Comanche warrior. I won’t spoil the movie by telling you the ending.

               But how does “art imitate life” in the case of this movie? Well, today is the feast of the archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. But according to Jewish tradition, which is accepted by Catholic theology, there are actually seven archangels total: Suruel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Gabriel, Remiel and Uriel. Notice that each name ends with the two letters, “el” which is the Hebrew word for “God,” like “El Shaddai” and “Elohim.” In other words, these archangels have been created by God and enlisted by God for the protection of human beings assaulted and attacked by Satan and his sidekicks, the fallen angels. I hope you can catch how “art imitates life,” and how the movie “The Magnificent Seven” gives us a glimpse into how the heavenly hosts come to aid helpless humanity. I know it seems rather coincidental, but I believe it is absolutely inescapable that behind every movie is a message, and that’s the same for all art.

              Let me say a word about the three main archangels we honor today: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Michael battled directly against Satan, as recounted in Revelation 12, and his name means “Who is like God?” The answer should be obvious – No one is like God – but it wasn’t obvious to Satan, who tried to seat himself on God’s throne, but thanks to Michael he was thrown down into hell. Secondly, the name “Gabriel” means “the strength of God.” Gabriel announced the coming of Jesus and John the Baptist, and also he was the angel who strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. Third, Raphael’s name means “the healing of God.” Raphael was the angel who guided Tobias and healed his father in the Book of Tobit in the Old Testament. Each with his special skill set comes to the aid of human beings in their hour of need, when we are besieged by our ancient Enemy.

              My friends, we all stand in need of God’s Magnificent Seven, his mighty archangels, to succor us, but we are especially in need of God’s strength, God’s healing and God’s humility today. Let me explain. We need God’s strength (Gabriel) to live the Christian vocation today, to bear witness to Jesus in an increasingly pagan and un-Christian world. I am convinced it is only going to get harder to be a Catholic Christian, and we will need Gabriel’s strength, like Jesus in Gethsemane. We need God’s healing (Raphael) when we’re wounded by sin and seek the comfort of confession. How easy it is to avoid confession, but Raphael will guide us to true healing like he did Tobias. Third, we need God’s humility (Michael) to avoid the great sin of pride and an inflated ego, the desire to be like God and sit on his throne. And by the way, big egos are not only a problem for men, but also for women.

               In other words, we cannot make it through this life alone, like the poor people in the mining town of Rose Creek couldn’t go it alone. Just like they needed the magnificent seven gunslingers to protect them, so we need the magnificent seven archangels to protect us, because we are out-manned and out-muscled. That’s what Dostoevsky meant when he said, “art imitates life.”

Praised be Jesus Christ!