Archangels

Be careful what you ask for.

It’s a saying which has been bandied about for centuries. It translates to the fact that what we think we want may not necessarily be very good for us but we often only discover this when we’re in possession of what was initially desired. It’s also a way of admonishing someone to stay out of trouble because it implies that when we do get our way then it’s rarely as we imagined and we could find ourselves between a rock and a hard place – rather like Damocles. 

Those of us who have asked and received know this all too well. Sometimes it’s best to just let God be God and provide for our every need. The trouble is, even when inspired to ask, we can still find ourselves in a position where our weak faith finds us asking for assistance to deal with what God wants us to have. But there’s nothing wrong with this as “the righteous shall live by faith”.

Those who testify to familiarity with the ways of the Most High are very aware of the reality of asking and receiving. Jesus explains that receiving what you want is predestined of the ask. He says it’s guaranteed. Nevertheless, it’s often not handed to us on a silver platter. We have to work for it; we have to get our spade out. Because God knows what can happen to those who are given easy access to their desires: they can take their success upon themselves. The upshot of this can be an ascent to pride, which, as many will testify, is deadly. This rise is often born out of an increase in status which Jesus shows us can be humbling. This is evidenced by the people he met in his life and also by his parables. We see what wealth did to the rich man in Matthew’s gospel. The very wealthy man who asked what he had to do to inherit eternal life didn’t really want change. His wealth and status had ruined him and eventually made him miserable in the sight of God. We know this because he ended up walking away with a long face.

Then in the parable of the man who took a seat of honour at the banquet, Jesus explains how taking status upon ourselves can lead to embarrasment (Luke 14:7–11). Additionally we hear the Pharisee’s prayer in comparison to the publican where the one with high social standing thanks God that he’s not low-life scum like the publican. One can garner from these examples that Jesus was very serious when he told his disciples that whoever exalts himself will be humbled.

The problem we have is that ambition isn’t intrinsically bad, but of itself can be very destructive. Paul says we should only be ambitious for the spiritual gifts and declares that his most pressing desire is to preach the gospel.

The great saints (especially Saint Francis) have the same attitude because it is a fact that riches in themselves present us with temptation to avarice. The end result is that it becomes impossible for us to enter God’s kingdom - eye of a needle impossible.

In direct contrast though, God does not have to warn the angels concerning the perils of ambition, pride and wealth. They saw, to their deep sorrow, where the path of ruthless desire and selfishness ends when the angels who sinned made their ascent to pride. They have also seen many of us mortals descend into the abyss because we were too proud to repent.

One of the problems with ruinous ambition is that the path to perdition is often slow and progressive. So much so that we barely notice our departure from God as the serpent tightens his coils. People lose their souls because of the way they live their lives – not because of an isolated incident. It is believed that the course of Lucifer’s downfall was equally incremental.

Once a holy, humble and venerable Archangel, somewhere along the line he stumbled into chaos and wrong doing. God is generous and granted Lucifer his desires. There is a school of thought which postulates that he gradually amassed more responsibility and status. But nothing was ever sufficient and ruin was his destiny. Ezekiel spoke of him in chapter 28 vs 3 when he said “Your heart is proud, and you have said, ‘I am a god; I sit in the seat of gods”. Reference is made to him as “the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. Anointed as a guardian cherub”.

We then witness the Evil One's banishment from Zion after his defeat against Michael and his follow Archangels. Perfunctorily expelled in disgrace. “Your heart grew proud of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendour; so I cast you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings.”

Then, jealous of the fact that we too are made in the image and likeness of God, he began his war of lies. Our ancestors fell into sin and the affects of this has been passed on through every generation. God, angered by Lucifer, uttered the immortal words found in Genesis: “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and every beast of the field!”

And to this very day, spiritual warfare between us and the once diademed light-bearer has been waged. Satan, who desired power, rank and status is now known as the fallen one – corrupted beyond the imagination of any angel and beyond our ability to comprehend. People think the war between the angels in the heavenly realm was an isolated incident but it’s still waged today. With the spoils of this war being our souls.

Paul says we should “approach our salvation with fear and trembling”. He’s not wrong because if an Archangel can fall because of pride and ambition - and take one third of a countless multitude with him - then rest assured we are even more susceptible. Take it as read that the enemy will try and get you to follow the same road as him. Amongst other things, he’ll seek to blind you with worldly trappings such as wealth, status and ambition: All for the glory of God, of course 😉

The moral here is to let God exalt you, don’t go looking for it. Wait for him to offer.

 

 

We know that churches have guardian angels because the book of Revelations makes reference to the angels of various churches. In John’s vision, where he sees 7 stars and 7 lampstands, Jesus points out that the angels are the stars and the lampstands the churches of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. John is then instructed to write to the angels of the churches. Not the members or leaders of the churches: not even the guardian angels of the priests, but the guardian angels of the churches.

We can therefore accept this as reason to assume that all churches have guardian angels. 

Angels are present in historic churches in the form of statue, carving, stained glass and mosaic. These are only artistic representations but they nevertheless beckon us to the reality that the angels continually worship before the Blessed Sacrament. During the mass we hear the words

“ In humble prayer we ask you, almighty God: command that these gifts be borne by the hands of your holy Angel to your altar on high in the sight of your divine majesty, so that all of us, who through this participation at the altar receive the most holy Body and Blood of your Son, may be filled with every grace and heavenly blessing.”

Before the consecration, Jesus adds his prayers to ours and the sacrifice (and us) then becomes divinised once the priest places his hands over the chalic and pattern and the body and blood ascends to God's throne.

As angels continually present our prayers to God then we can trust that they will add their prayers to ours for our edification and provision.

This is part of the work of the Holy Guardian angels. They are with us during the mass and their eternal Hosanna is echoed throughout time and space during the eternal sacrifice. This is testimony to the fact that the angels labour and pray. Therefore, when you go into a church always greet the angel of that particular church. If you’re troubled then talk to him, if you seek guidance then share your quandary with him because he is listening. And if you’ve been married in a church remember that he will have prayed for you.

He will pray for everyone who comes into church to pray silently or to weep. He will rejoice with those who come to give thanks and he will guard the steps of those who set foot on this holy ground.

It's worth mentioning here that there is a particular rank within all of the Choirs and it’s the rank of the Sarageel.  The closest we get to it here on earth in our armies is the rank of sergeant. All guardian angels of all of the established churches i.e. those who have as their head a monarch, a papacy or a patriarchy are all Sarageel drawn from the choir of Angels. Except for one church and that’s Saint Peter’s in Rome whose guardian angel is an Archangel named Michael. He is guardian of the Catholic Church in its entirety.

Padre Pio always urged the faithful to seek the help of angels. We are known to them by name. They intercede for us and continually ask God's blessing upon us.

So don't be a stranger to your church's guardian angel. And don't forget to ask God to bless the Sarageel (and all the angels). They are fearless warrior angels who have been given much responsibility and their office of guardianship comes at great personal cost, to them. Remember: "To whom much is given, much is asked in return". These angels know the meaning of the words "self sacrifice" and we would be well served to learn by their example.

The angels are full of love and speak the language of love. Which, as we know from Saint Paul's teaching, is patient, kind and never ends. The angels are eternal and when we are living in the kingdom and are perfected we shall like them.

In this scenario we see a unique sequence of events unfolding as Jesus is questioned by a wealthy young man about what he must do to inherit eternal life.

Under normal circumstances a man of such great means would rarely have anything to do with Jesus unless Our Lord was pricing a job. Another reason is because Jesus was one of the least assuming Jewish men. He was ordinary. He was so quintessential that the Pharisees immediately dismissed him as far too normal to be who he said he was. They expected someone far more worldly than Jesus. When they discovered that he was claiming to be the Son of God they were appalled that somebody so everyday, so unremarkable and humble, should make such a grand assertion.

Although of noble birth, Jesus did not mix with aristocracy. Although having two working men in the family provided well for their needs (they were not poor), they were not rich. Although literate, Jesus was shunned by sages and rabbis because his status in life was not sufficiently high enough to merit their ears. He was a social pariah as far as the religious upper echelons of the Jewish community were concerned. So much so that when Nicodemus came to him, he hid his embarrassment by coming to him under the cover of darkness.

Not so this wealthy ruler. As he came to Jesus with a religious question then it was highly likely he was Jewish. He came to him in broad daylight which probably meant he was above criticism. He then made an apparent gesture of a respectful deference. Scripture tells us he bowed. But why? Why would someone with such high social standing bow to the one who referred to himself as meek and humble of heart? I hope to answer this further down.

But first, back to Nicodemus: when he asked how a man could be born again Jesus’s response was challenging. “You! A teacher of Israel! And you don’t know such things!!”

But when the rich young man approached him all Jesus did was to make a factual statement. He never followed it up with anything more than “Keep the commandments”. My guess is that the rich young ruler did not come alone. I would wager that he had a little entourage. Perhaps some friends and others whom he wished to impress. It's my belief that he wanted to be seen to be doing the right thing.

If he'd have really believed that Jesus was who he claimed to be then things may have been a lot different. We know from the book of Samuel that “the Lord looks into the heart”. We also read in Matthew 9:2 and also John 2 that Jesus could look into a man’s heart.

The wealthy ruler, eager to justify himself (perhaps in front of his friends) and to tick a few boxes then stated that he’d kept God's word – and from a young age. Jesus, without any condemnation, respectfully told him he hadn’t.

Many scriptural commentaries portray the rich man as an eager and morally upstanding citizen who perhaps knew there was something missing but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Jesus knew different and was very aware that the rich man had always put himself and his wealth before God. What the ruler had done is to vastly under-estimate Our Blessed Lord. He’d tried to catch Jesus out and failed miserably. His plan backfired and this is why he walked away with a long face. He’d been tripped up by his own hypocrisy - and he'd done it right in front of Jesus. The same Jesus who had told his disciples that if their virtue went no deeper than the Pharisees then they would never enter the kingdom of heaven. The man was sad because Jesus had told him that he’d failed to serve God where it’s most important because he’d actually made money his God. And we know that this is a false God. We also know that one can’t serve both God and wealth.

So, in his stupidity and arrogance he’d made himself look particularly fraudulent. He'd mistaken Jesus for a zealous idiot. Of course, anyone who knew Jesus knew that assumptions like this are only for the brave or the foolish.

But Jesus, always the perfect gentleman and unwilling to cause this man any embarrassment, dealt with him beautifully. He subtly told him he had not kept the commandments and then went on to prove it to him by telling him to go and sell everything he owned and to give the money to the poor. The rich young man, having tried to catch Jesus out, suddenly found himself having caught himself out.

He’d have been OK if he’d walked away as soon as Jesus gave him his answer. But no, he had to try and be clever. With Jesus. Seriously! He decided to take on a site carpenter who was Joseph’s son AND God incarnate. What was he thinking?!

In it though, we encounter the love of God. “Jesus looked at him and loved him”. Our Lord didn't recoil when he saw the evil in his heart. And then the invitation: “Come, and follow me”.

Now Jesus was getting to the point. The rich young man had come asking what he had to do to inherit eternal life and Jesus was giving him the answer. Then we see the lack of sincerity  in the young ruler as he walks away, having just experienced the unconditional love of God.

You see, he never really wanted to know what he had to do to inherit God’s kingdom. And Jesus proved it to him. The original gesture of respectful deference was simply a show; it meant nothing because it was superficial. What he'd actually done is insult Jesus's intellegence. This fellow lacked empathy. He lacked it for the poor, he lacked it for God and he didn’t show any to Jesus. He was playing games and now he’d been shown up. He arrived thinking he could dupe Jesus but left under a much different impression.  The likelihood is he’d been duping people for a long time. He came with a very self-righteous attitude and perhaps delusions of grandeur. He went away all the wiser for his experience because he’d met true humility, real wisdom and a superior intellect. Sadly though, he refused to walk with Jesus who offered him a deep relationship and the true riches of his kingdom.

 

 

 

It’s Christmas. And for the world this is tinsel, Christmas decs, giving and receiving presents and time with family. But once the dinners have been eaten and the crackers have been pulled then thoughts get mulled with the wine as many sink deeper into the comfort of a well chosen couch.

Soon enough the star from the top of the tree will be put in a box for next year. No thought given. But why should there be? In this modern age, we know that there’s very little chance of there really ever being a star which hovered above the stable like some kind of wintery bauble. This is because many people will have arrived at the conclusion that stars cannot travel as they’re fixed celestial bodies which have an energy source that creates light born out of radiation.

Stars are formed because of nuclear fusion and the light from this can take many thousands of years to reach earth. So even if the Star of Bethlehem was some kind of object floating about in the Universe, what the Wise Men (Magi) would have seen would have been light generated many thousands of years before.

We can therefore now speculate that in all likelihood the "Star of Bethlehem" was indeed a comet as the actions of such uniquely fits with the description in Matthew’s gospel. It's described as a newly appeared star which travelled slowly through the sky against the star-background and which then appeared to stand over Bethlehem.

What further substantiates the claim was its positioning directly over the ‘House of Bread’. This is because its forward trajectory made it look like it was diving down with its tail in the air thus creating the illusion that it was actually hanging in the sky.

Sub-heading one: The genesis of the angels.

We weren’t here first. God created his angels well before us. When exactly we are not sure, but of what we can be certain is that it was well before the genesis of man. We may though, take a calculated guess that the angels were around when God created the Universe out of nothing. Being higher than us means that the least in the angelic choirs is still above all of us in intellect. In addition to the knowledge God infused into them in the beginning they also have their own experiential knowledge. Therefore, it must be considered a given that they have an intimate understanding of all created matter.

They were willed into existence with the sole intention of serving God. They live in the fullness of the presence of the Most High and are all without fault. It’s difficult to imagine a time when angels never were. But by one single act of generosity they were given free will, and simply existed. The one who is without limit and infinite in charity called each one by his name and in that moment each one heard the voice of Almighty God for the very first time.

The Holy Guardian Angels are drawn from the choir closest to us known as Angels. Sacrificial in nature, they exist purely to give God greater glory in the heavenly realm. And yet they stoop down to his footstool and – in their humility – they “serve those who are to inherit salvation”.

It is therefore posited that somehow the sacrificial bond of guardianship between every angel and his charge enables the angel to express his love for God through us in a similar way to the way men deepen their relationship with God i.e. through service, sacrifice, sacrament and revelation.

Augustine developed the theory that a sacramentum is a sign that sanctifies – makes holy – because it is efficacious – produces the intended effect. We know that for the angels, guardianship comes at great personal cost to them. Could it be that even angels in their perfected state benefit from their experiences of meeting and serving God through us, the Alter Christus? Does their work with us in some way build them up? When they are called to step forward and meet us in our lowly state, does their sacrifice in some way edify them in their finiteness?

Each angel’s guardianship is something deeply personal to him. He may have waited Millenia upon Millenia for the time to step forward. He will only ever be a guardian angel once and it is his honour to serve God in this way. Therefore, reason dictates that a deeper state of sanctity could be born out of the discipline of guardianship because of the experience.

Although they themselves are whole, they can never totally fathom God, and, unlike God, they have not lived tomorrow. They are not infinite beings and therefore guardianship means it’s likely they get to know God in a unique and deeply personal way because of the uniqueness of their charges.

Just as Jesus made his sacrifice, and just as we are called to make ours, the angels make theirs too.

It must be assumed that the title of this essay isn’t something which will sit easily with everyone. This is possibly due to the supernatural element of the word sacrament . Perhaps it shouldn’t be this way but sacraments are mystical and our worship, liturgy and spiritual lives revolve around holy mother church’s sacraments – therefore the response to the interpretation of the sacraments can contain both the subjective and objective i.e. it can be based on personal experience and also church teaching. Ergo, it follows that our sacramental value to the angels could very well be mystically personal and also as per our objective speculation.

In our case, because of the mystical element of the sacraments, there is always an air of the unfathomable about them. This may be due to the fact that it’s in them and through them that man meets God. Non-Catholics may not agree but the fact is that the mercy of the most Holy Trinity is deeply, profoundly and truly present in the sacrament of reconciliation. That is why we can declare the words laus et jubilatio because we know that God is an infinitely loving and forgiving person.

But because the sacraments are born out of love it means that there is a mystical depth to them whch means they are are a phenomenon. Therefore, sometimes it’s best to look at them from a phenomenological perspective. They are grace-filled which means they lead to greater holiness. However, to better understand them we perhaps need to take a conceptual view in addition to the objective and subjective viewpoints if we are to begin to unpack the statement concerning our possible sacramental value to the angels.

But first, let’s examine the species of both man and angel in the light of our knowledge concerning sin. Both have sinned (although angelic sin was a one-time isolated incident). One of the differences in psychological functioning is that the angels were initially given infused knowledge which meant that no ignorance or reasoning was present or required before their fall. They didn’t have to make much of a journey into sin, they didn’t need to dig around in the dirt and mire of wrong doing in order to fall into a weakened state. There was no need to figure out what was bad and why they shouldn’t do it, they didn’t need to be slowly and seductively corrupted and then make a decision based on poor reasoning and lack of understanding where consequences were concerned. They knew that their departure from holiness would result in total separation from the love of God. Whereas we become sinful and eventually separate ourselves from God in a different and more progressive way.

The fact is, the result of the action of the sin of the angels was fully known in all its expansiveness. It could be argued that the absence of deceit in their temptation meant that they were simply tempted with something which they were close to actually desiring in the first place. This is because the level of discipline to which they were called was high and somehow self-governance became more appealing. It meant that the seductiveness of “independence” could be employed quickly and effectively. They chose to accept this, knowing it was a lie. Whereas, in the Garden of Eden, our first parents did not fully grasp the complexity of the implications of their decisions.

This is why demons are beyond redemption.

The upshot of the Great Temptation of the angels meant that – astonishingly - those of such high intellect who occupied the heavenly realms chose to turn away from God. Their fate is described by  Saint Jude who says that they “left their proper habitation” and are now “kept in everlasting bonds under darkness…”.  

It is possible that the decision to sin, in all likelihood, happened pretty quickly. Likewise, in an instant, the angels who chose God formed themselves into fighting legions with the sole intention of overthrowing the newly formed Satanic hordes.  Each angel which sinned had rapidly concluded that being at enmity with God was preferable to being a warrior for him. This was their Achilles heel – this was their weakness. And the great temptation enabled them to know themselves fully.

What made their fall worse was that they plunged to their destruction in the perfect knowledge that they were siding with an Archangel. One could perhaps have sympathy for them should they have accepted the temptation of one of the mighty Seraphs or even a lie (if it were at all possible) from the ranks of the majestic Cherubim. But princely Archangels, although occupying far higher positions than any angelic foot-soldier, would stand very little chance of tempting anyone from the loftier Choirs. It is now very clear that those who occupy such elevated positions would never stoop so low as to cease desiring God with all their hearts.

Lucifer, having hatched his plan and administered his attack with precision, brought down many angels. Michael, in his justice and humility, gathered together a handful of his best warriors and defeated the will of Satan.

In direct contrast, our temptation lasts from the cradle to the grave and Michael and his fellow warrior Archangels continue to fight for our salvation. Thankfully we have all of the angels and God’s grace to aid us in our battle against the world, the flesh and that fallen Archangel we call the Devil. And it’s this outpouring of grace which the angels are interested in.

N.B. Likewise, the fallen angels.

An example of the angelic collaboration with grace is seen in Gabriel who fully recognised the outpouring of it in the life of Mary. In fact, it was so prominent throughout her life that Gabriel made her his queen during the annunciation when – in his humility - he set the precedent for all angels when he went down on his knees. In the moment when he called her “full of grace” he righted Lucifer’s wrong. Lucifer had broken the rules because of his angelic refusal to serve God in Mary. Gabriel had rebuilt that bridge. The other angels, from the lowliest Angel to the highest ranking Seraph, showed their humility by accepting her elevation beyond their glorious state.

Sub-heading two: The sacramental journey:

The word sacrament comes from the Latin sacro which means hallowed/consecrated or sacred. As Saint Augustine says, a sacrament is an outward and visible sign of the sacred grace of God. As we meet God in and through his sacraments, it could be argued that the angels meet God in us in a similar, particular and profound way i.e. in a comparable way to the way they met God in Christ. We are, after all, tabernacles of the Incarnate Word. The same Incarnate Deity the angels adored at the first Christmas is present in us. Later in the life of Christ we see angels minister to him after his temptation in the wilderness and particularly in Gethsemane when the angel strengthens and comforts Our Lord. This depths of love for God must surely have been sacramental.

As Catholics we’re called to live a sacramental life. We are instructed in the value of the sacraments and that makes us a knowledgeable consecrated people. This consecrated way is an ongoing way of life and requires saving grace. Let us never forget that once we are saved, we can always un-save ourselves if we let the Evil One tighten his coils around us and then fail to repent.

It was the same at the genesis of the angels. The knowledge they were given included insight into their service to God through man. None of them had consecrated themselves fully to God. They had what’s called evening knowledge . Their new life had yet to begin. They were given the choice – this choice is also regarded by many as a test. Their consecration to God was the beginning of their deepened relationship with him. The angels who chose God over themselves were brought closer to him and fully integrated into his provision for us ( morning knowledge ).

These angels continually consecrate themselves to God and do so through the way they comport themselves in his creation. They are totally and fully incorporated into it in a complete and holy way. They praise God through it and because of it. It just so happens that we are very much part of their world. As we are temples of the Holy Spirit, the angels can serve and worship God through their service to him in us.

This dutiful worship is a particular aspect of the intrinsic nature of sacrament. Likewise we are able to worship God in a more complete way because of the sacraments. In baptism we meet the sanctifying grace of God through the cleansing waters which are poured out throughout our lives. During our lives our angelic brothers are continually striving to serve the hand of God; the economy of his grace astounds them - they see it in its fullness whereas we can only catch glimpses.

It's the same with other aspects of our worship such as mass and holy communion. From Christ on the cross two thousand years ago to his victory over sin now and forever. Worshipped on the altar by both us and the angels, He dwells in us and they serve him through us. Every aspect of their beings is caught up in service to God in every way. It's the natural order of things. The angels are beings of order. By being in order it means that everything they do is done for the service and greater glory of God. This means that they are totally whole and therefore at peace.

In direct contrast, the fallen angels are at all times conflicted because by their created nature they have a natural will to serve God too but choose not to out of hate and spite. They are a direct contrast to the holy angels, they see all the opportunities where they could serve the Most High in a holy way but at all times are disgusted with themselves for not doing so.

Nevertheless, in their pain and conflict they still have to be obedient to God’s command. The result is that their psyches are split in two because their angelic intelligence continually informs them at all times that their actions are wrong. Let’s not forget that the angels were also all made in the image and likeness of God. And the fallen ones hate themselves for this and because of the fact that they have to serve God. They are appalled at themselves and each other when they carry out malevolent acts. And yet they seek, at all times, to oppose God. Hence they are eternally at enmity with the Most High. This enmity is born out of the weight of the chains with which they are bound. They are eternally snared in their own anger and hatred for God. And because of their superior intellect they suffer much more than the fallen children of God. What enables the evil angels to torment the ruined souls is their clarity of mind and their knowledge of what these souls have done and who they are. In direct contrast to the Holy Angels, demons desire to see the face of evil in us and not that of God’s only son.

Sub-heading three: Conclusion.

I hope that the aforementioned prose may lend itself as “evidence” to support the hypothesis that we are in some way of sacramental value to the angels. As mentioned earlier, during our sacramental life in the church we meet the love of God. We also meet him intimately in our relationship with him and catch glimpses of his provision for us in other ways. But it’s our Guardian Angels who see this in guilted detail. In their holy estate they experience God is a particular way through his love for us in our brokenness. It could therefore be argued that the angels meet God in a profound and particular way. They see the suffering Christ, they bear witness to our battles and temptations, they come to minister to us and to strengthen. They see the mercy of God in repentance and confession, they stand by our side during holy communion and they worship in the sanctuary or at the altar with us. The heavenly Sanctus is echoed during the celebration of holy mass and we partake of something mirrored in Tchaikovsky’s Hymn of the Cherubim.

Factually, living a sacramental life is being immersed in prayer and the life of the church. This is the angels. Although they cannot offer mass, they possess all priestly knowledge (including everything which is known and can be known about the liturgy) and are fully present in the celebration – they too sing the Sanctus.

The angels are very exact in everything they do. Their praise is perfect.

Therefore, we must make a particular and special effort to present our praise and adoration in a way which befits the fact that we are their protégés. We meet God in his angels and our worship should, in some way, reflect the fact that they encounter God through us.

The UK is a very diverse place where the Christian faith is concerned (if you hadn’t noticed). Despite all of the historical, liturgical, traditional and theological differences, everybody appears to have realised that arguing makes no difference. Catholics tend to just get on with it and let the Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostalists and Anglicans go their own way. Apart from the Evangelicals feeling the need to convert every single Catholic on the horizon to their way of thinking, everyone seems reasonably happy to quietly coast along.

However, if you were to go looking for noise and conflict then it wouldn’t take you much time to discover that the volume has been turned up between believers and nonbelievers – especially on social media. A little foray down the Youtubes will reveal debates, monologues and examples complete with running text battles in the comments sections.

It appears that people regularly fall into one of two camps: they either believe or they don’t. The nonbelievers are disparaging where God is concerned, goadingly spelling his name with a small ‘g’. In direct contrast, the adamant believers are constantly trying to provide evidence for a divine creator. At one time it was enough for a believer to point to the stars and remind the atheistic that the Universe can’t come from nothing. But not now. How the Universe was created is generally seen as something which really doesn’t matter anymore. It’s just a fact that it wasn’t “god”. The absence of whom is now disproved by celestial teapots, the Flying Spaghetti Monster and the Pink Unicorn. Although conceptual, they are all very real.

We are now told that the burden of proof sits squarely upon our shoulders and that if we wish to influence die-hard and embittered atheists and ex-Christians that there is indeed a God then we are the ones who must provide empirical evidence which is unfalsifiable. I could, at this point, present many different strategies, techniques and evidence for winning arguments concerning the existence of God but I’m not going to because I don’t believe there can ever be clear “winners” where God vs. no God arguments are concerned.

The fact is that common sense should dictate that the Almighty does indeed exist. St Paul explains everything perfectly in Romans 1 when he says that “since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.”

What this means is that people choose not to believe.

Nevertheless, we are charged with going out into the world and making disciples of all nations (Matt 28 19:20).

As all are all capable of grasping the concept of God then surely this shouldn’t be difficult. All we have to do is tell the nonbeliever and hey-presto, another one enters into salvation, right? Au contraire. What usually happens is that we engage with someone who has made the decision to reject the truth and the inevitable stalemate results. Why though? Well, first of all people don’t like being told what to think. It’s also likely that somewhere along the line they have been hurt or forced to do something against their will.

The upshot of further discussion is that both sides will take their fair share of knocks and bruises as dialogue can often get heated and sometimes downright abusive. Nobody ever comes away unscathed from a battle – least of all the God one. Even if nobody is metaphorically wounded then at least battle fatigue will take hold. It doesn’t matter how well you present your case or how many unbelievers you smite with your mighty tongue or keyboard, you will never do yourself or your opponents any favours. You certainly won’t have won a soul for Christ because the job isn’t about proving the existence of God by arguing.

So what do we do? The directions are clear in scripture and from scriptural commentaries: we should not engage in debate with non-believers. What we’re instructed to do is to shake the dust of the town off our feet (Matt 10:14).

For our part we must listen to Jesus plainly stating that he had been sent only to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. He came for his own. And so it must be the same for us. We must look within our own ranks and care for those whose faith is weak. The ones in danger of giving up. The ones who have been wounded by parents, religious professionals and anyone who has been the victim of an errant teacher or a blind guide. But how do we do this?

We’re meant to be fishers of men. So how do we do this fishing? We must not ask ourselves How can I change this person’s belief to suit me? but What might I, or the church, a priest or another Christian from another denomination have done which has resulted in someone making the decision to decide against God or the church?

An example of this is from Quora where a very charitable lady answers the question “Why are you an atheist?”

She says: “I grew up in the Catholic Church. Mass every Sunday, etc.

I knew I was an atheist since I was little. I’m sure Sister Mary Margaret didn’t help when she told me that god hated questioning little girls with no faith. She then told me that if I didn’t find some faith quick, I was going straight to hell.

Even at the tender age of six, I thought punishing me with eternal damnation and hellfire for asking why there were no dinosaurs mentioned in Genesis was a bit over the top. That made me doubt everything I was being taught.”

It’s pretty obvious that Sister Mary Margaret shouldn’t have ever really been let loose as a nun never mind a teacher of six year old girls. The likelihood was that her faith was compromised because of her own shaky belief in God. I’m kinda guessing she never got that theology degree either. But it’s such a shame that the little girl had her tiny packet of faith destroyed in such a brutal way.

The bottom line is that the nun simply wasn’t emulating Christ who told us that he is the way, the truth and the life. He also says that we should learn from him because he is meek and lowly. So this is the answer: If we are Christ-like then we are living the same kind of life as Christ and can therefore be effective witnesses by the way we live our lives.  We cannot be hypocritical. In John’s first letter he spells it out and says that if anyone says “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.”

Tough call. Basically it means that Christ will become present in us if we keep his word. He showed us the way, he told us the truth, he lived the exemplary life. He leads, we follow. If we do this then we will be the abode of the living Trinity.  But we know the cost for us: it’s the narrow gate. It’s the discipline of the sainthood. It’s not about cherry picking the bits of our faith we can live easily. It’s about going up against the things which make us sin.

It won’t matter how many times we pray in tongues, quote scripture or go to church services, we will not turn a nonbeliever’s heart to God. Only the way we live the Christian life – complete with its hardships, obedience to church teaching and sacrifice – will have any influence.

Paul says that the righteous will live by faith. For us, this is the only way to live. If we love God and ourselves and are genuinely at peace with who we are then we are the empirical evidence. This is because a person’s relationship with God is reflected in their relationships with other people. And one’s relationships with others is mirrored in one’s relationship with God.

We must always be alert. We’re told that the foxes have holes, that the birds of the air have nests and that the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. So we know we can never fully put down roots in this world. This place is a passing place and we’re only here temporarily. The fact is, we barely have time for arguments. So we must strive to live the way of St Francis who always sought to please God. Francis was at peace. He was a gentle soul and he was meek. He inherited the earth.

Live this way and you’ll be beacons of hope.

Always bear in mind though, that even Jesus himself – by the way he lived his life (which incorporated exorcisms, breaking open the word of God for the people, healings and forgiveness) – was insufficient for some. He was often told he was unwelcome. They even accused him of being in league with Satan and tried to find fault with everything he did. Then they plotted to kill him.

Take it as read then, that there will be some who will never change. They are of this world and, as Jesus says, we must know that we'll be hated by the world. Even some of the ones who call him Lord will never enter the kingdom because their virtue will have gone no deeper than that of the scribes and Pharisees. These you will not change even if you become saints on earth and speak with the wisdom and love of the angels.

In sum then, no manner of persuasive talk will result in a conversion. We know this because there’s often pain which has resulted in the rejection of God. It may even be subconscious. We must be content that they’ll know we are Christians by our love and our fruits. If we produce the appropriate fruits then the non-believers will at least wonder if there’s anything in it. It is a fact then, that the proof of the pudding will be in its eating.  

“Anybody could be wrong. We could all be wrong, about the flying spaghetti monster, the pink unicorn and the flying teapot.”

Memorable words from Professor Richard Dawkins when asked “What if you’re wrong?” during one of his lectures about the existence of God.

His answer starts with the relegation of God to the realm of nonsense concepts which he then equates with mythologically cultural gods such as Zeus, Wotan, Thor and, of course, the Great JuJu up the mountain and the Great JuJu at the bottom of the sea. Although amusing in some ways, this reply is quite scathing because it reduces the beliefs of entire ancient civilisations to nothing more than ignorant sociological structures based on foolish thinking. 

What makes it sound even more badly thought out is the fact that all of the gods Dawkins mentions are finite deities. Which means they would need to be created.  By their restricted nature, none of them would be capable of creating the Universe. None of them can be considered almighty and unlimited in capability. They simply take their place in the pantheonic hierarchy. It could be argued that this is simply sleight of hand by Dawkins because it’s rather like trying to imbue a roadside puddle with the same credentials as all the mighty oceans of the world just because both are wet.

The fact is that the girl in the audience was asking what if Richard Dawkins was wrong about the omnipotent God. As mentioned above, Prof Dawkins immediately derogates him to nothing more than a myth. Clever. But not that clever.

Mythical gods have been around for a long time. Polytheism was rife in old testament days. So much so that when the God of Israel gave his commandments to the people through Moses he stated that it was wrong to put any gods before him. No graven images, no false gods.

“ You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.”

One of the gods to whom the people used to give worship was Baal. In 1 Kings we find that the people have turned to him during a period of drought. The man of God, otherwise known as Elijah, in conversation with the prophets of Baal, instructed them to choose a bull, slaughter it and build an altar. Elijah would do the same. Whoever’s god consumed the sacrifice first would be the one to whom the people would turn their hearts.

So the prophets of Baal began their ritualistic dance but the sacrifice remained. Elijah even taunted them suggesting that Baal might be asleep or out of town. This only worsened things and the followers of Baal began (as was their custom) to cut themselves with knifes and lances until they were covered in blood. Still, the sacrifice remained.

Elijah, knowing exactly what he was doing, rebuilt the altar of the Lord, cut up the bull, laid it on the wood and instructed that everything was to be drenched. Three times. It was so wet that the trench he dug was full of water too.

Then Elijah called on the name of the Lord: “O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and have done all these things at Your command. Answer me, O LORD! Answer me, so that this people will know that You, the LORD, are God, and that You have turned their hearts back again.”

The God of Israel didn’t keep the man of God waiting and the fire fell. It fell so violently that it consumed the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust and every single drop of water in the trench.

This is our God. This is the one we worship. This is why it can sometimes be very difficult when we see our faith mocked. And it begs the question: Why are there so many bright people who reject God and who seem so intent on diminishing him to the realm of invention?

Ricky Gervais, another celebrity atheist, regularly trots out a familiar chestnut which he uses to present ‘evidence’ that repudiates the reality of an all-powerful creator God. He’ll say that out of the 3000 gods he doesn’t believe in, the Christian is only a person who believes in 2999 fewer than him. However, we have to confront the fact that Gervais is only referring to a manufactured figure here and that he never actually mentions his source. In all likelihood he’s probably underestimating the number of gods in which he doesn’t believe because it's actually estimated that there have been around 18,000 worshiped since the genesis of man.

But the salient point is that Gervais’s gods are also minor in every respect.

So, from a point of ridicule, the atheists can’t actually have an argument where they even mention other gods because these are not comparable to the Christian God. They are neither infinite nor eternal. They are simply mythical and superstitious created personalities – rather like Baal: figments of the imagination.

The fact is, atheists don't actually have a dog in the fight. What happened in 1 Kings with the priests of Baal was that Elijah pretty much asked them what if they were wrong. In the only way they knew how, they then went on to demonstrate the authenticity of their god, and failed miserably. Dawkins is doing the same thing. However, the Elijahs of this world simply point to the obvious which is that you can’t get solid matter from nothing. The existence of time and space in a created realm should be sufficient to prove the existence of a Creator. Moreover, God goes way beyond this and fills the Universe with unnumerable worlds. It is a fact that there is intelligent design behind creation. For all Dawkins’s protestations even he will admit that the precision necessary to create life on earth does present a compelling argument. After all, it’s not just our existence, it’s also the existence of the richness of everything else which is necessary to make life sustainable – including all consuming fires. And it’s not like God has made everything unfathomably difficult to figure out. Nor has he made it impossible for us to draw the conclusion that all study of science should lead us to a greater understanding of who he is.

Nevertheless, they still appear to flounder to explain how, with or without God, nothing, eternity and infinity are possible. Scientists have actually tried in vain to create nothing but in doing so only end up creating something.

The least they can do is admit that they don’t know. But for some reason the existence of God is denied vehemently by so many. David Mitchell, the English actor, comedian and writer – when asked whether he believes in God - simply states that he is suspicious of the distain for people who find belief in God a comfort in their lives and the sort of desperation in some atheists to tear that comfort away from them. In fact, it’s because of this very visible distain that Mitchel says he is more likely to side with belief as he considers the often antagonistically viscious atheistic argument compelling evidence for the possibility that there might actually be something in it.

He has a point but let's not forget that he's an entertainer who completely negates the necessity for tough love and will always seek his popularity. Which means he'll skim over important aspects of faith such as the hardships of the apostolic calling and the necessary sacrifice inherent in God's love and our love for God. In the case of Christianity it's the fact that real, genuine Christianity is powerful and not for the faint of heart. It makes men of boys and strong women from girls. It is exacting and the mills of God do indeed grind slowly. They also grind exceedingly fine. Authentic Christians have been refined and sifted. There is certainly comfort in that but it can often feel like a harsh process so - should Mitchell experience the reality of discipleship - he (like many others) may not find it as comfortable as he imagines.

Dawkins too is unable to see this but he could at least try to sympathise with those who profess a belief in God. After all, many follow the way and yet blindly believe. They’ve never seen Jesus, they’ve never heard the voice of God. They may never have had one single spiritual or religious experience in their entire lives. But they keep believing. Jesus says that they are blessed. He also says that people are known by their fruits. Although Dawkins is polite and well-spoken there is very little avuncular kindness or empathy in him. Only a distain and desperation to try and disprove the existence of God by saying that only science can prove anything and that everything can be known through it. Even Professor Brian Cox is liberal minded enough to go beyond the known and into the realms of the philosophical don’t knows when he states that there’s so much we have yet to find out.

Of one thing we can be sure though, local gods don’t work anymore because most of them are tied to the earth. They’re supernatural deities born out of a need to worship something more powerful than we can ever be. So – as mentioned earlier - this is where the atheists cleverly place the God of the Israelites. And when on stage or a televised interview, the likes of Gervais and Dawkins skate over the big questions and slip away to receive their handsome cheques. Let’s not forget that talk-show hosts aren't paid to drill down into their guests. There’s also big money in celebrity atheism. There’s book revenue, after dinner speech money and talk show fees. All of which amount to spadefulls of cash. If you wish to listen to Dawkins banging on about the non-existence of God then it’ll cost you $100,000 dollars just for dinner. Ricky Gervais made history when he reportedly earned £1.41 million for just one single stand-up performance. His popularity means he earned 3 million just for presenting the Golden Globes.

In direct contrast we see that Jesus didn’t charge anything for barbecued fish on the beach nor did he  levy a fee for his talks. Our Lord was empathetic and the people came to see him because he loved them, healed them and spoke at length about God with compassion.

By their fruits shall you know them.

Which brings us to us. Can we have sympathy – even empathy – for Dawkins?

Of course!

As an evolutionary biologist he has to deal with creationists who really do think that God made the entire Universe in 6 days. There are those who believe the earth is flat and those who believe in reincarnation. Some people are absolutely certain that Jesus is the incarnate God whereas others flatly deny that he is divine in any way. Even though around 84 percent of the global population define themselves as religious, there is so much diversity it actually means it’s simply not possible for everyone to be right. It’s rather like asking people about their driving ability. Research shows that most people, when questioned, regard themselves as ‘average’. However, the fact is, you can’t have a nation of average drivers. And so it is with religion: there are Hindus, Jews, Christian fundamentalists, Buddhists, witches, warlocks, bible belt theologians and folk dancing weirdos. Which means that there will be quite a few people who are, to put it simply, wrong. Nevertheless, it looks like Dawkins has completely thrown the baby out with the murky bathwater.

So could it possibly be that that he and his ilk: the very talented Ricky Gervais, the extremely knowlegeable Lawrence Krauss, the gifted Carl Sagan and Christopher Hitchens (both of whom sadly met an untimely end at 62), the treasured Stephen Fry are all just men who have simply struggled to see the hand of God at work in his Universe? If so then this is very surprising considering they are all particularly clever individuals.

Richard Dawkins’s response to the young lady who asked him what if he’s wrong was based on the central tenant that he believes she’d been culturally influenced. If so, then surely this is all that’s happened to the atheists. Dawkins is just another example of a capable individual who's been swept along in the wake of the secular belief that God does not exist and therefore certainly did not create the Universe. And yet they are at a total loss to explain it themselves.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mmskXXetcg

 

 

 

 

 

When Satan tried to lead Jesus into sin, during his temptation in the wilderness, we sometimes think that - because he was at such  a low ebb  - the enemy might've been in with at least a small chance of  success. Like it was somehow touch and go. Au contraire. Jesus was ready for him. It was a forgone conclusion and it wouldn’t have made any difference even if Our Lord was seconds away from death, Satan was never going to have this victory.

Jesus was there for a number of reasons. One was to right the wrong of our first parents by overcoming the Evil One. They fell easily into sin. They succumbed to the seduction and charm of the enemy. They lost their innocence. Jesus, the sinless one, the incorruptible one, was as ready for this test as he’d ever been. He knew it was coming and his face was set like flint. The fallen Archangel Lucifer stood just as much chance with Jesus as he would've if he'd taken his fiddle to Georgia.

And so it begins: Jesus is lead by the Holy Spirit into the desert. An arid and deserted place where he was without food. The human body can go without sustenance for between 30 and 50 days so we know Jesus was very weak. He was tired and drawn and at his most vulnerable as a man. And yet this was God the Holy Spirit’s doing. Jesus was being led into temptation. Later in scripture we hear him teaching people to ask God not to lead them into temptation. He also admonishes the sleeping disciples in Gethsemane saying that they should be praying not to be put to the test.

Jesus was very aware of the ways of God and was actually allowing us an insight into them: he tests and he allows temptation. He did it with the angels and many fell. He does it with us and many choose the broad way which leads to perdition.

There’s something to think about here in relation to our lives. There will be tests of faith and we will be tempted. The same Satan who was given permission to tempt Jesus is also given permission to tempt us.

What is surprisiing is how Satan attempts to use scripture to lead Jesus into error. Our Lord is taken to the parapet of the temple. This is the wall surrounding the highest part of the structure. Its purpose is a safety barrier which is there to stop people falling to their deaths. In this portion of scripture we find Jesus actually standing on this wall whilst Satan quotes Psalm 91.

It reads that “he will give his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. They shall bear you up on their hands should you dash your foot against a stone”.

Jesus didn’t need to prove who he was. It was Satan who was always in two minds. If God did send his angels then he would know for certain that Jesus was the redeemer. But he would be the redeemer who sinned. On the other hand, if Jesus fell and was killed then it was one less miracle working prophet to worry about.

But Jesus - fortified by his prolongued fast and understanding perfectly that this was simply a formality - could see that it was a trap and that this leap of faith would result in him tempting God. Satan would have the double whammy: tempting God, and testing God. Should Jesus have acquiesced to the Evil One’s request then it would’ve made a mockery of God. This was obviously never going to happen.

But when we look a little further and ask why Satan chose this piece of scripture then it becomes a tad clearer why it’s important. For us.

Satan was absolutely correct when he quoted scripture. He knew full well the extent of angelic intervention in our lives. Let us never forget that he rejected God’s choice for him. This is mainly because he saw the role of the angels fully.

The words, “he shall give his angels charge over you” is no understatement. For Satan knows full well the extent of angelic intervention in our lives. We often think we’re in control. But we’re not. The angels are. They really have been given charge over us. We can do nothing unless our angels permit it. This is because we are indeed the wards of the angels. We have our free will, that’s a given, but if an angel decides to stop us in our tracks then we are brought to an abrupt halt. The fact is, God’s Holy Angels have far more authority over our lives than we can ever give them credit. We are children and we are partially sighted and God knows how much we need them.

The path which the Most High has chosen for us is the one along which the angel must prompt and lead. What this means is that the angels know where we are meant to be going in this life and it’s their job to get us through. It translates to the fact that God has given them unimaginable insights into our life journeys.

It is true that we are not complete until we have a relationship with God. We could have every material accoutrement in our lives and wealth beyond our wildest dreams. But if we don’t have God then what we have is an itch we cannot scratch. In this relationship with God it’s important that we try and build a relationship with our guardian angel as he will enable us to better see God’s will. He is the angel who will keep us in all our ways. It’s to him to whom we must submit because he speaks for God.

Like Jesus we are called to have a beautiful relationship with the angels. He knew they were there in the wilderness with him. It is true that, just like Elisha knew of the presence of the angels on the hills, he could have called on them during this tough time and they would have run to his aid. But he trusted God and the angels came to him at exactly the right time. 

Like Jesus, we must also wait until it’s the right time. We know our angel is with us from the cradle to the grave. The church teaches us this. Like Jesus we must wait until the appointed times in our lives when our angel is allowed to bring us into his presence.  

What helps us drawn near is this prayer: Promise to the Guardian Angel.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Your glory.

Kneeling before Your Majesty, I thank You, O God, that You have given me a heavenly companion to be at my side, who leads me according to Your will, directs me to Your glory and reveals to me Your love.

I promise here in Your presence to love my holy companion like a brother, and to listen to him when he speaks to me through the voice of conscience. May he lead me safely to heaven!

Lord JESUS CHRIST, our Saviour, take my hand and place it in the hand of my Angel and make the sign of Redemption over it, as Your blessing, for my salvation.

In the name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT, Amen.

 

We must contemplate the fact that Jesus knew the angels well and that he was very aware of who and what he was. This is why he said to Pilate that 12 legions of angels would appear at his command. Jesus knew the Second Book of the Kings and had read about the angel who killed 185,000 men during one night. He knew that loosing this kind of destructive power would result in him being unable to complete his redemptive task. All he had to do though, was say the word. The angels would not have delayed.

We too must be aware of the strength of the angels in our lives. As scripture says, “Though and army encamps around me, my heart will not fear, though war breaks out around me, I will keep my trust”.

We must listen to the voice of the psalmist who says that “Because you have made the LORD your dwelling - my refuge, the Most High - no evil will befall you, no plague will approach where you dwell. For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. ”

They harken to the voice of his word and “will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and cobra; you will trample the young lion and serpent. “

If we wish to live authentic Christian lives then we must go back to the desert and listen to the words of Our Blessed Lord before he dismisses Satan: “It is written: Worship the Lord your God and serve him alone”.

This is our charge. We must learn to do this whilst also asking God to allow us not to be led into temptation or test.

We need to live clean and holy lives; angel clean.