ANGELS--COMMENTARY

Angels have always fascinated me, so much so that I wrote a paper on them in a college history of philosophy class. Throughout grammar school the nuns encouraged us to say a prayer to our guardian angels. Prior to Vatican II, we recited the prayer to St. Michael after every Mass. I have never doubted the existence of my guardian angel and the need to invoke St. Michael the Archangel for help in the fight against Satan. The reason is more relational than intellectual. I sensed the presence of my guardian angel in praying to him and I felt the need for St. Michael's help in dealing with temptations. The paper I wrote confirmed what I already believed. Reading C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters also strengthened my belief. I have challenged those who deny the existence of Satan and the angels. If they are Bible believing Christians, the scriptures are clear about their existence. If they are Catholic Christians, the Church has doctrines, prayers, and traditions which consistently have supported this belief. Satan must have a field day with those who deny his existence. I have taken the advice of other Catholics who advise each person to give his/her guardian angel a name. I have named mine John (in memory of my deceased son, John) and my wife's, Joanna (the feminine form of John). I pray to them regularly. The philosophical discussions about angels in my paper are esoteric but they may lead to a better understanding of the metaphysical relationship of angels to God and to us. After death we will take on a quasi-angelic state, existing without our bodies until they are resurrected. Some believe that we will meet our guardian angels soon after death. Those who never knew about their guardian angel or denied their existence are in for a big surprise. I think we owe them a great deal of thanks for watching us so closely and representing us before our heavenly Father.