Angel
Stories
“Make
friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you.
Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their
help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritusal affairs.”
St.
Francis de Sales
In
the spirituality group on Sunday, we read the passage from the Gospel
of Luke about the angels appearing to the shepherds to announce
Jesus's birth. First, a little history—this passage is found only
in Luke, and was originally written in Greek many dacades after
Jesus's death. In the earliest gospels, Mark and Matthew, there is no
angel narrative nor story of magical birth. It's interesting,
however, to read different translations and then imagine how the
angels presented themselves. My vision, and the one reinforced by
hymns and stories from childhood, is that the angels were seen coming
from the sky, that the “heavenly host” were flying above the
shepherds. A literal translation from Greek says, “And a messenger
of the Lord stood in front of them, and the Lord's glory surrounded
them, and they felt the fear of fears.” (The Unvarnished New
Testament) The New International Version translates it, “An angel
of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around
them, and they were terrified.” So, no where does the Bible say
that the angels were flying around in the sky. You probably already
knew this, but I had simply gone with my childhood images.
So,
in the group, we talked about angels, how they appear and what their
message is in our own lives. To my surprise, everyone in the group
had an angel story to share--encounters with people who gave them
critical information, or asked something of them and promptly
disappeared. Only in retrospect did they come to the conclusion that
they had spoken with a heavenly messenger, but then, they felt
certain of it. In Hebrews 13:1-2, we are instructed, “Let brotherly
love continue. Don't neglect to offer one another lodging when
needed. After all, others before you have given lodging to travelers
who turned out to be angels!”
Suppose
St. Francis de Sales was correct and we are at all times surrounded
by angels. What should be our relationship to them? Clearly they are
messengers—so we should listen. And we should assume that they are
listening to us, and that they care for our well-being. We are told
to ask them for help both in our daily lives and our spiritual
affairs. I don't know about you, but I feel better already!
This Christmas eve, I hope the angels are with you and all around you,
bringing you “good news of great joy that will be for ALL people.”
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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