Our Tendency to Forget the Angels

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Our tendency to forget the angels

                                                        Sometimes at mass you’ll hear the lector pray for “the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized.” The poor and the oppressed are obvious, but who are the marginalized? Are they the people who sit in those little pews on the edges of the Church? Is that the marginalized? No, the marginalized are the people we forget about. The persons whose existence we ignore.

                                                        So is there anyone we forget more often than the angels? Is there any demographic we’re more likely to ignore, than them?

Well here in this field, where the angels came to share their joy at the miracle of Christ’s birth, let’s take a moment to remember them, to think about all we owe them, and to ask for their help in finding Jesus, as they helped those shepherds so long ago.

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The Archangels

One of the best ways to think about the angels is to begin with the three of them whose names we know: Michael, Raphael, Gabriel. What do they do?

Michael is the great warrior angel. He is the angel that fights for us. Michael and his army cast Satan out of heaven, and they commit themselves to casting the temptations of the demons out of our heads.

Raphael is the great helping angel. In the book of Tobit, he is the one whom God sends to bring peace to Tobit’s family, as well as healing to his eyes. He shows that the angels heal our relationships and will also help our bodies. In times of trouble, they will bring us aid and comfort.

Gabriel is the great announcing angel. He tells Daniel that the Messiah is coming hundreds of years earlier, and then he comes again to tell Zacheriah that the Messiah’s forerunner is coming, and then he comes at the end to tell Mary that the Messiah is coming now. It’s as though Gabriel’s job is to break the good news gently. He shows that the angels give us guidance about God’s plan and His will. These three roles, warrior, healer, and guide, are the roles by which the angels have served humanity throughout our history

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In the Old Testament

              The warrior angels protect the people of God

The angel of death carries out the horrible punishment on the Egyptians, and destroys the Assyrian army of one hundred and eighty thousand warriors before they can destroy Jerusalem. It’s a warrior-angel who tells Joshua that he will lead his army to victory against Jericho. In Maccabees, two beautiful, mighty angels beat up the foreign invader trying to desecrate and rob the temple. One of the Holiest names given to God is “Lord, God of Hosts,” for He is a God with an army of angels. You might think of the angels as being fat little kids with wings, but actually, you wouldn’t want to mess with an angel.

          The helping angels save us when we’re in trouble

It’s an angel who gives Elijah the nourishment and encouragement to keep going. It’s two angels who save Lot and his family from the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. An angel saves Hagar and her child Ishmael as they languish out in the desert.

What’s the point? When you’re feeling lost, alone, overwhelmed, tired and ready to give up, ask the angels for help. That’s what they do.

And the announcing angels tells us what God is doing and what He wants us to do

Angels announce births, like that of Isaac and Sampson. Angels announce missions, they tell Gideon, Joshua, Moses, Daniel, and Peter what God wants them to do. Angels even give us insight into God’s very character, like the angel that wrestled with Jacob or the angels Isaiah saw singing the Holy, Holy, Holy before the throne of the Lord.

Whether you need help or courage, whether you need spiritual insight or defense against temptation, the angels are there for you.

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The Angels fight, help and announce in the life of Jesus

     The angels fight, help and announce for the Lord of Heaven.

Warrior angels: When Peter cuts off the ear of one of the men coming to arrest Jesus, the Lord says, “don’t you know if I asked My Father would send an army of angels to defend me?”

Helping angels: When Jesus is in His agony in the garden right before that, an angel comes to bring Him comfort

Announcing angels: Jesus’s conception, his birth, and his resurrection are all announced by angels.

The point is this: if Jesus is willing to rely so extensively on the angels, why wouldn’t we?

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Angels in the Christian Life

The first ones to hear that Christ had been born heard it from Angels. These were poor, simple people, the uneducated shepherds. Yet, because the Angels helped them, they found the Lord much more quickly than the wealthy, cultured, well-educated Magi, who had to rely on their own judgement and discernment, and came years later!

So if you want a short-cut to holiness, if you want to have a heavenly team fighting for you, helping you, guiding you, then don’t forget the angels.

   Don’t forget to thank them. Don’t forget to ask for their support.

In practice, you might as well say the Guardian Angel prayer every day. Because the purpose of your life is to get as close to Jesus as quickly as possible. And the Lord has sent you a heavenly host, and one angel in particular, to help you do just that.

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love entrusts me here – ever this day, be at my side, to light, to guard, to rule and guide. Amen.