ANGELS IN GOD S PLAN. and Distorsions in Today s World

ANGELS IN GOD S PLAN and Distorsions in Today s World

I.) Who are the Angels? (What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church say (CCC). II.) What is the Role of Angels? III.) Angels in the Bible The Old Testament. IV.) Angels in the Bible The New Testament. V.) The Archangels. VI.) The Guardian Angels. VII.) Prayer. VIII.) Questions.

I.) Who are the Angels? (What does the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC 327 to 356) say): The term angels (Latín ángelus; Greek aggelos; Hebrew mlak, comes from the root lak which means one who goes" or is sent"; a messanger, and in Hebrew is used to designate a messanger, either divine or human. In the Latin, the difference between divine or human is on the translation of the word, angelus when refering to a divine messanger, and legatus when refering to human ones. - The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls "angels" is a truth of faith. the witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition. (CCC 328). The existece of Angels is a truth of faith-. - St. Augustine says: "'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the name of their office, it is 'angel': from what they are, 'spirit', from what they do, 'angel. (CCC 329). - The angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they "always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven" they are the "mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word". (CCC 329). (Reference: Matthew 18:10; Psalm 103:20). As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory bears witness. (CIC 330). (Ref. Daniel 10, 9-12; Lucas 20, 36). - Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are his angels: "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him.... "They belong to him because they were created through and for him: "for in him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities - all things were created through him and for Him. "They belong to him still more because he has made them messengers of his saving plan: "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?" (CCC 331). (Ref. Matthew 25:31; Colossians 1:16; Hebrews 1:14). - From infancy to 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. (CCC 336). (Reference: Matthew 18:10; Luke 16:22; Psalm 34:7; 91:10-13; Job 33:23-24; Zech 1:12; Tob 12:12).

Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for other creatures: "The angels work together for the benefit of us all (CCC 350). (Ref. St. Thomas Aquinas, STh I, 114, 3, ad 3).. In her liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God.. (CCC 335). The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and. protect every human being (CCC 352). The distinction bettween good and bad angels appears constantly throught the. Bible. It is important to point out that there is no dualism or conflict between the. good and the bad In scripture there was a definite battle between the good. angels (led by Archangel Saint Michael), against the bad angels (led by Lucifer) -.. This conflict manifests the struggle on earth between the Kingdom of God and. the kingdom of evil, but it always presuposes the triumph of good over evil. Remember that at the end of the struggle, Lucifer and his angels were thrown out. of heaven. II.) What is the Role of Angels? Angels appear throught the course of the history of God s chosen people. Either as messangers of God, guides of God s people, bringers of the law of God, and at times, prefigure our Lord, whose divine mission they support. They speak with the prophets, David y Elias, with Daniel y Zachariah; they defeast the armies that attempted to destroy Israel, they are guides to God s people. The last prophet, Malachi, has a name of special significance: the Angel of Yahveh". * They are arround the throne of God worshipping Him. * Are messangers of God to humanity. * Are guardians and helpers of the faithfull. * Are present in the life of the Church. * Are personal Guardians. * Are divine agents in the world. * Are Guardians of nations. * They punish disobediance * Assist with physical and spiritual needs. * Anwser prayers.

III.) Angeles in the Bible The Old Testament (some examples) Angeles appear 108 times in the Old Testament, and 175 times in the New Testament. Thru out Adam and Eve from Paradise, and prevented their return (Genesis 3: 24). Announced to Abraham that Sarah would bear a child, even though she was of advanced age (Genesis 18, 14). Prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son Issac (Genesis 22, 1). Jacob fought the entire night with an angel (Genesis 32, 24).. An angel found and rescued Agar in the desert (Genesis 16); an angel. rescued Lot from Sodom; it was an angel who announced to Gideon that he. would rescue his people; an angel announced the birth of Samson (Judges 13),. And the angel Gabriel instructed Daniel (Daniel 8:16), even though he is never. Called angel in any of the passages, rather the man Gabriel" (Daniel 9:21).. And an angel protects Daniel in the lion s den (Daniel 6:16).. In Exodus 23: 20-23 they lead the people of God: Thus says the Lord: See, I am. sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place. I have prepared. Be attentive to him and obey him. Do not rebel against him, for. he will not forgive your sin. My authority is within him. If you obey him and carry. out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. My. angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites,. Canaanites, Hivites and Jebusites; and I will wipe them out. The also announce births (Judges 13) and vocations and callings (Isaiah 6: 6), assist and aid. the prophets (1 Kings 19: 5), announce jugdments and punishments (as in Sodom) (Genesis. 19:13).. The spiritual nature of angels is manifiested clearly in the story in which the prophet. Zachariah makes revelations which he recieved from an angel.. The prophet describes the angel as speaking within him" (Zachariah 1:9-14; 2:3; 4:5; 5:10).. They are present during Job s testing (Job 33: 23-24).

IV.) The Angels in the Bible The New Testament. From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. When God "brings the firstborn into the world, he says: 'Let all God's angels worship him.'". (CIC 333). When God introduces His first-born to the world, He commands: worship Him angels of God" (Hebrews 1:6). The Archangel Gabriel announced first the birth of the Precursor, John the Baptist (Luke 1: 11-20), and then of Jesus, one of the more important events in the History of Salvation: In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you. But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. But Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I have no relations with a man? And the angel said to her in reply, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God. Mary said, Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. Then the angel departed from her. (Luke 1: 26-38). Mary is also the Queen of Angels. His song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased to resound in the praises of the Church: "Glory to God in the highest..." (Luke 2: 14). They protect the infancy of Jesus (Matthew 1: 20; 2,:13.19), serve him in the desert (Mark 1, 12; Matthew 4:11) confort Him in la His agony (Luke 22: 43), He could have been saved by them from His enemies (Matthew 26: 53), as in other times Israel was (2 M 10: 29-30; 11: 8). They also "evangelize" (Luke 2, 10) announcing the Good News and the Incarnation (Luke 2, 8-14).

During the Resurrection of the Lord, an angel moved the stone from the tomb, and was resplendantly white (two in Luke) (Matthew 28: 3; Luke 24: 4), and announced His Resurrection (Luke 24: 6). In the second coming of Christ, the parusía announced by the angels, (Hebrews 1: 10-11), they will be present at the service of the Lord (Matthew 25: 31. For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.. (Mark 8: 38; Matthew 16: 27; Luke 9: 26; 2 Thessalonians 1:7). ] Jesus gives the angels the role and function of witnesses of the Last Judgment regarding those who had acknowledge Jesus, and those who had denied Him : "I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God." (Luke 12: 8-9; cf. Revelation 3, 5), and they give testimony to the world: "I, Jesus, sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star." (Revelation 22,16). Angels appear throught the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Angelic Hierarchies: There exist several Angelic Hierarchies: Seraphim (Isaiah 6: 2), Cherubim (Genesis 3: 24 and Ezequiel 10:1-22), Thrones (Colossians 1:16), Dominations (Colossians 1:16), Virtues (1 Peter 3:22), Powers (Colossians 1:16), and Principalities (Colossians 1:16), here we find the Archangeles. They are messangers par excellence. They are closer to humanity and to God. Some of the archangels appear by name in the Bible, and have important roles in both the Old as well as the New Testament.

V. The Archangels: Even though the Bible speaks of seven Archngeles (Tobías 12:15, Revelation 1:4) it only mentions three by name. This are the three that the Church honors in liturgical cult: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The Feast of the Archangels is on 29 of September. In Revelation 1: 4 it states: "grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne". Each of the names finishes with El which means God. The first is Michael Archangel (Daniel 10: 13. 20; Revelation 12: 7; Judith 9). "Micha-el" means in effect: Who is like God?". He is the leader of the heavenly hosts, who triumphed against Satan and his hosts. The second is Gabriel: whose figure is linked above all with the Incarnation of the Son of God (Luke 1: 11-26). Gabri-el means: "My power is God" or "Power of God", in Him is the culmination of creation, the Incarnation is the supreme sign of God the Omnipotent Father. This celestial spirit announced the birth of John the Baptist and the Encarnation of the Redemer, tradition also attributes to him the message to the shepperds announcing the birth of Jesus (Luke 2: 9), and the glorious mission to strenthen the King of Angels during His agony in the Garden of Gethsemeni (Luke 22: 43). The third Archangel is Raphael. "Rapha-el which means: God heals". He is known thru the book of Tobit in the Old Testament (Tobit 12: 15-20). "I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand and serve before the Glory of the Lord. (Tobit 12:15). (The names of the other four archangels (Uriel whose name means: "fire of God", Barachiel (or Baraquiel) whose name means: "Blessing of God", Jehudiel whose name means: "Praise of God", Saeltiel whose name means: "Prayer to God"). They do not appear in the Bible. They are found in the Apocrypha of Enoch, the Fourth Book of Ezra and in rabbinical literature. These names can be used as a reference, but are not doctrine of the Church because they come from books that are not part of the canon of Sacred Scripture).

VI.) Guardian Angels: The Guardian Angels are the angels that are assigned to each soul for the accompaniment through their lives and after death. This loving presence whose job it is to care for and to guide the human beings in their journey through life, stays with the soul of the person at all times.the day of the Guardian Angels in the Roman Missal is celebrated on October 2nd. The Guardian Angel is defined even more in the New Testament. For example, when Saint Peter is released from prison by an angel. In addition, Acts 12: 15, when Saint Peter leaves the prison, arrives and knocks at the door of the house where are gathered the disciples of Jesus, at the beginning they believe that it is not Peter in person and exclaimed: "It must be his angel". Jesus himself said: See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. (Matthew 18: 10). The general doctrine that the angels are our appointed guardians is considered a matter of faith, that each individual member of the human race has its own individual guardian angel is not an article or doctrine of faith (de fide); However this idea has such strong support on the part of the Doctors of the Church (Saint Jerome, Saint Bernard, Saint Thomas Aquinas, etc.), and in the tradition of the church, and it is commonly accepted. Since the beginning of Christianity, the Christian theologians have also been constant in voicing this about the guardian angels. Many Fathers of the Church repeatedly stated that "Christians believe that every one of us designates God an angel to guide us and protect".

VII.) Prayer to Saint Michael: St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into Hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

RESOURCES USED AND RECOMENDED: - NAB Bible, at: http://www.usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/index.cfm - Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC) on-line at: http://www.vatican.va/archive/eng0015/ P1A.HTM - Saint Thomas Aquinas on Angels on-line at: http://www.jesus-passion.com/angels.htm -The Summa Theologica by St. Thomas Aquinas (Benziger Bros. edition, 1947) on-line at http://www.ccel.org/a/aquinas/summa/fp.html Scripture texts in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Washington, D.C.