Pope Benedict- Talks About What Bishops and Angels Have In Common

Picture From Last Saturday Episcopal Ordination By Pope Benedict
Tip of the hat to Whispers in the Loggia that had this story. Whispers at this link talks about the first group of Bishops that Pope Benedict ordained Saturday and his Homily. Be sure to check out that his post.

The Pope ordained these Bishops on a day that was the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.. He really tied the Liturgical feast and the office of Bishop in a very moving homily. Benedict's Homilies are among the best of any Pope's I have read. This is no exception.

Asian News has a nice write up with a good many excerpts that are quite striking. Here are two excerpts of the piece:

In his moving homily the pope recalled that in the early Church – and in Revelations – bishops are referred to as “angels”. Just as angels, explained the pope, bishops must lead humanity to God; they must knock on the door to their hearts to announce Christ; they must heal the wounds of relations between man and woman and save them from sin with reconciliation and forgiveness.
...
Michael (“Who is as God?”) “defends the cause of the one God against the dragon’s presumption, the “ancient serpent” as he is called by John. It is the serpent’s continuous attempts to make men believe that God must disappear, in order for mankind to obtain greatness; that God stands in the way of our freedom and so we must be rid of Him”.
In reality, explains the pontiff, “he who puts God aside, does not make mankind great, rather he denies mankind his dignity. And thus, man becomes an unsuccessful product of evolution”.

Some great stuff there. The Ratzinger Forum has the full text of the Homily located on this thread.