Angels
We are not alone. When God created the universe, He populated this little blue-green planet with intelligent living beings -- the human race. And He also created a different (non-human) kind of being to inhabit the universe, persons possessing intelligence and exercising free will.
Does this sound eerie? Is this some kind of space-age speculation about strange life forms who live "out there" in the far reaches of the cosmos? No, it's just a sober statement about one of the tenets in the Creed we recite each Sunday. We refer to God as creator of "all things, visible and invisible". The invisible creatures are called angels.
As mentioned, angels are persons. That's sort of a technical term. It means that they possess intellect and will. They are not "God's little robots". As you may recall from your catechism, there are three kinds of persons inhabiting the universe: angelic persons (the angels), human persons (that's us), and divine persons (the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, each of them a distinct person). So we have something in common with the angels and with the Holy Trinity - personality.
But if we're going to talk about angels, we need to talk about how angelic persons differ from human and divine persons. First of all, angels are created persons, whereas the divine persons are not. That, by the way, is a distinction not quite appreciated by the angel Lucifer in his primordial rebellion against God. There is more to say about that, but let's not get into it now.
So the angels are created persons. That makes them just like us then, right? Not exactly. The angels are pure spirit - no arms or legs or senses at all. The human being is a composite of body and spirit. So in that sense angels are less complex than we are. No angel has ever experienced the pain of creaky joints. Likewise, no angel is capable of enjoying the touch of his beloved's hand, nor have any of these pure spirits experienced the delight of devouring a pepperoni pizza.
An angelic person can never become a human person, and a human person can never become an angelic person. Our hope is that we will join with the angels in eternity, seeing God as He really is. But we will still be human beings. (That's in the Creed, too - look it up.)
How do angels fit into the human scene? From biblical times, angels functioned as messengers of God. The birth of Jesus was announced by an angel to Mary, an event commemorated in the Angelus and celebrated on the Feast of the Annunciation. The Nativity was hailed by angels who brought the message to the shepherds on the hills near Bethlehem. Whenever something important happened, angels were on hand.
They are also on hand for us in our little lives. Each of us has one's own guardian angel to assist us and maybe even save our bacon when the occasion demands it. The new Catholic Catechism says this: "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." No kidding. What a happy thought!
Deacon Greg Sampson
Diocese of Rochester
