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More Questions about Angels
Robin: Personally, my own belief in angels is much more simple than the artistically rendered visions of light and magnificence that has personified them in the art, collectible and pop culture world. I believe in angels as the everyday presence of God and God’s approachability and unconditional love in one’s life (as well as the not so everyday awareness of being carried by God in times of difficulty and in times of pure joy. ) This is a message Joan so beautifully articulates in her writings. But I also understand as a Catholic that we love and treasure icons and human imagery. I have 3 questions for Joan (no expectations you would answer them all, but I wanted to put them out there):
What are your thoughts about the connection between angels and the Trinity (I usually think of angels as being sent by God Creator (or Father, if one prefers)?
Do you consider the intervention of particular saints “angelic”?
And what about the notion of the infamous “fallen angel?”
Thanks for your presence here today.
Joan: Hi, Robin. You ask good interesting questions! Let’s see where we can go with them. Yes, I do believe that the Holy Trinity sends angels. In other words, angels are there to do God’s bidding, not ours. My concern with the New Age flavor that has in some cases taken over the “angel movement” is that angels are sometimes presented as servants to humans. But angels are God’s servants, not ours, and they work on God’s timetable, not ours. I think one of the best ways to truly understand how God wanted us to regard angels is in Exodus 23. So loving (And God in the Old Testament was pretty strict!) He says, “See? I am sending an angel before you to guard you on the way…Be attentive to him and hear his voice.” It goes on… Note the authority: “I am sending…” Not, “the angels has decided to pop into your life etc.”
As to the intervention of saints, I think it happens all the time. Since they are human, we can certainly relate to them. But again, they’re not angels and their work is different in that they bring human characteristics to the job, while angels primarily reflect God’s light.
The fallen angels are indeed real. It’s a doctrine of our Catholic faith. And does anyone doubt their existence in today’s world? In the 70’s, Reverend Billy Graham went looking for material on angels so he could plan a sermon on them. He found next to nothing,(angels had fallen out of popularity then)so he began his own research and eventually published a book on angels. One of the more meaningful lines in that book was when the Reverend said, “During the coming dark times, angels will prove to be a light to many.” I am sure he was predicting the 90’s when the angel explosion occurred, because despite all the darkness and spiritual warfare now going on, angels are a fixture in our world today.
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