20141002 FINDING FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE REALITY OF ANGELS IN A
SCIENTIFIC AGE
First
reading Exodus 23:20-23 ©
The
Lord says this: ‘I myself will send an angel before you to guard you as you go
and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Give him reverence and
listen to all that he says. Offer him no defiance; he would not pardon such a
fault, for my name is in him. If you listen carefully to his voice and do all
that I say, I shall be enemy to your enemies, foe to your foes. My angel will
go before you.’
Psalm
Psalm
90:1-6,10-11 ©
The
Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
He
who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
and abides in the shade of the Almighty
says
to the Lord: ‘My refuge,
my stronghold, my God in whom I trust!’
The
Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
It
is he who will free you from the snare
of the fowler who seeks to destroy you;
he will conceal you with his pinions
and under his wings you will
find refuge.
The
Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
You
will not fear the terror of the night
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor
the plague that prowls in the darkness
nor the scourge that lays waste at noon.
The
Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
Upon
you no evil shall fall,
no plague approach where you dwell.
For
you has he commanded his angels,
to keep you in all your ways.
The
Lord has commanded his angels to keep you in all your ways.
Gospel
Acclamation Ps102:21
Alleluia,
alleluia!
Give
thanks to the Lord, all his hosts,
his
servants who do his will.
Alleluia!
Gospel
Matthew
18:1-5,10 ©
The
disciples came to Jesus and said, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven?’ So he called a little child to him and set the child in front of them.
Then he said, ‘I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become like little
children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the one who makes
himself as little as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven.
‘Anyone who welcomes a little child like this
in my name welcomes me. See that you never despise any of these little ones,
for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the presence of
my Father in heaven.’
FINDING
FAITH AND BELIEVING IN THE REALITY OF ANGELS IN A SCIENTIFIC AGE
SCRIPTURE
READINGS: EX 23:20-23; MT 18:1-5, 10
http://www.universalis.com/20141002/mass.1.htm
In a world of science it
is difficult to speak of the existence of angels. The premise of science is based
on empirical evidence and observation. Science does not deal with spirits
as they are non-corporeal. Hence, we Christians who believe in angels
appear to non-believers to be rather childish and mythological. We cannot
see angels. We do not even feel them, so how can we verify our claims
that angels exist? Indeed, how many of our Catholics really pray to their
angels every day? In the past, Catholics were taught at least to pray the
prayer to the Guardian Angel, especially to Archangel Michael, for protection
from the Evil One. But today, such prayer to angels might sound
superstitious.
Yet the Church’s
official teaching is clear with respect to the existence, work and intercessory
role of angels. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that
“in the meantime, the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and
powerful help of angels.” (CCC 334) “In her liturgy, the Church
joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God. She invokes their
assistance (in the funeral liturgy In Paradisum deducant te angeli… “May the
angels lead you into Paradise…”). Moreover, in the “Cherubic Hymn” of the
Byzantine Liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly
(St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the guardian angels).
(CCC 335) “From its beginning until death, human life is
surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. “Beside each believer
stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.” Already
here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of
angels and men united in God.” (CC 336) Consequently, today’s
commemoration of the Guardian Angels can help to strengthen our faith in God.
In the first place, the rejection
of this celebration is very much connected with the secularized world that
denies the reality of the spirit world. This over emphasis on the
material has reduced human beings to no more than a material animal. This
would result in the rejection that a human person is constituted of body and
soul. As a consequence, it means there is no need to believe in a world
beyond death, since a human person disappears into nothingness at death.
He has “no soul” that lives on. In other words, the human person is not
immortal. That being the case, committing suicide or practicing
euthanasia would be the best way to end a meaningless life on earth, since with
death, suffering ends.
Secondly, the rejection
of angels is also an attempt to undermine the reality of evil spirits.
Belief in angels is a counterpart to the recognition of a spirits world. One
cannot believe in the existence of evil spirits whilst at the same time reject
the reality of angels, since Satan and his fallen angels were really angels.
Conversely, the rejection of evil spirits will also lead to a rejection of
angels. Perhaps, the lack of devotion and exposition of the reality of
angels is the cause of skepticism in today’s world over the reality of evil
spirits. Many no longer believe in the work of Satan and evil
spirits. Some Catholics even think it is a farfetched reality and very
rare. Pope Paul VI warns us that the double smokescreen the Devil is
using today is to deceive us into believing that he does not exist and to be
ignorant of him. In this way, we are no longer alert to the temptations
and oppression of the Evil One. This allows him to work in our lives
unnoticed and thereby destroy us. In truth, St Paul speaks of the
different hierarchy of beings. He speaks of Christ as the head of all creation,
“for in him were created all things in heaven and on earth; everything visible
and everything invisible, Thrones, Dominations, Sovereignties, Powers” (Col
1:16) And in his letter to the Ephesians, he warns us to “Put God’s armour
on so as to be able to resist the devil’s tactics. For it is not against
human enemies that we have to struggle, but against the Sovereignties and the
Powers who orginate the darkness in this world; the spiritual army of evil in
the heavens.” (Eph 6:10-12)
Faith therefore is
required to believe in the angels. The Gospel speaks of a child-like faith that is required
of us. Jesus said, “I tell you solemnly, unless you change and become
like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. And so, the
one who makes himself as little as this child is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven.” Most of all, Jesus warns us to “never despise any of these little
ones, for I tell you that their angels in heaven are continually in the
presence of my Father in heaven.” It is therefore of a dogma of faith to
believe in the existence of spirits, namely, angels and the devil. Not
having faith in angels will lead us to a denial of other truths of faith,
namely, that God is pure Spirit; the existence of devils; our spiritual nature;
and the truth about the bible as the inspired Word of God. So a rejection
of angels puts all other truths of faith in question.
In the light of such
explicit and clear declaration of the existence of angels, both in scripture, Tradition
and in the teaching of the magisterium, what kind of devotion is expected of
us to our Guardian Angels? In the first reading, we are told that they
are God’s messengers sent to guard and lead us. They are the
ministering spirits of God who guide us in our daily life. The Lord
instructed Moses to tell the people thus, “I myself will send an angel before
you to guard you as you go and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.”
Secondly, our Guardian
Angels relay God’s message to us so that we can walk in the truth. For this reason, we are called
to be docile to the Word of God that is relayed through the angels. The
Lord said, “Give him reverence and listen to all that he says. Offer him no
defiance; he would not pardon such a fault, for my name is in him. If you
listen carefully to his voice and do all that I say, I shall be enemy to your
enemies, foe to your foes. My angel will go before you and lead you to where
the Amorites are and the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites,
the Jebusites; I shall exterminate these.” It behooves us especially in
this scientific, technological and materialistic age to have a greater
sensitivity to the world of spirits. It is bad enough not to be conscious
of the presence of the angels in our lives, but to be ignorant of the work of
the evil spirits as if they are no longer a menace in the world is to think
that the world is already completely redeemed and evil overcome.
Ignorance of the work of evil spirit causes us to fall into Satan’s snares
without even knowing it.
Thirdly, since Angels are
pure intellectual spirits, they can think, choose, and feel like us. This
means that we can communicate with the angels as we communicate with the
saints. For this reason, the Church invites us to pray to our
Guardian Angels and seek the protection and help of the Archangels in our
battle against the forces of evil. Cultivating a devotion to the angels
certainly can be a great help in our spiritual life as in the case of our
devotion to Mary and the saints. We should seek their help; ask for their
prayers, protection and guidance. Of course, we should also imitate their
good examples of guarding and guiding people under our care; being messengers
of the Good News to others and be healers and reconcilers in the world.
Like the angels, we are called to enlighten and inspire others by speaking
God’s words and be the mouth piece of God.
Finally, we are called
in a special way to protect the little ones just as Jesus exhorts us.
“Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. See
that you never despise any of these little ones.” Let us protect our
babies from being aborted; take care of our children well, nurture them with
love and guide them in the right values; and most of all, do not scandalize
them or abuse their trust in us, making them lose faith in God’s love and in
humanity.
WRITTEN BY THE MOST REV WILLIAM GOH
ARCHBISHOP OF SINGAPORE
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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