The Angels Around Us

     We forget that the devil and his demons are angels - albeit fallen angels.  They have not lost any of the abilities that God created them with, they just no longer use them for good.  They live among us just as surely as the angels who remained in a right relationship with God.  I might also remind you that the devil and his demons were cast down to earth, not to hell.  They are living among us, though we cannot see them.  They see everything we do and they remember it, to use it against us, to tell us we are not worthy of a relationship with God because of our sinfulness.  Do not let them fool you, God's mercy is limitless.

     I forget who the cartoon character was, but he was trying to decide between good and evil and good and evil were depicted by an angel on one shoulder and a little devil on the other shoulder.  Of course one of them, the devil, promising fun and the other, the angel of God, promising only boredom and perhaps mockery.

     Hermes, in The Shepherd said, "Every man has close to him two angels, the one an angel of holiness, the other an angel of perversion...and how then, O Lord, shall I recognize the workings of these two since they both dwell within me?"

     I think St. Ignatius of Loyola answers this well enough when he says to look at the end results of our actions - if what we do leads to selfishness, hate, violence or things of evil then its origin is satan and the temptation should be avoided.  If the end result is for good, then the source is God.

     This does not mean we can do something evil knowing that God can bring good out of it (like bringing a new life out of the terrible act of rape or robbing a bank and using the money to feed the poor), but rather, what our intent is meant to be in our action.

     Since evil does not cooperate with love in any way, rest assured that when you enter a church or an adoration chapel (the presence of Jesus) you do so with only one of these angels - which is why it is so efficacious to take everything to our Lord in prayer.

     Jesus, I trust in You!

Jesus sent the twelve to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is at hand, to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and drive out demons.  He did not allow them to take gold or silver or copper, no sack or second tunic, no sandals and no walking stick.  Wow!  Discipleship is certainly not for wimps.

We are benefactors to those twelve disciples and their work - their obedience to our Lord.  Have you ever stopped to think about that? 

What if those men were the men of today?  How much proclaiming of the kingdom would there be, how many sick would be cured, dead raised or lepers cleansed.  Would our world be completely taken over by demons?

What if they had complained instead because they couldn't take food with them and other items of comfort.  Do you think we'd be where we are today?

These men sacrificed - died to self.  Why?  Because they had faith in Jesus - true God and true man.  They knew His way was THE way.

Jesus has also sends us out and He tells us what to do.  Are you being obedient?  Are you using the talents He has given you to bring others to Him? 

What holds you back?  Fear of rejection?  Lack of love for our Lord?  Uncertainty as to what to do?  If you don't know what you are supposed to be doing then spend time with Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and He will show you the way.

Which thief are you?

There is a portrait in our adoration chapel entitled, "Night at Golgotha."  In the portrait, they have just taken Jesus down from the cross and are carrying Him to the tomb.  The two thieves remain hanging on thier crosses.

Jesus has borne His cross and He has left it - but has He?  Does He still not carry that cross and suffer His wounds because we continue to sin and often refuse to carry our own crosses? 

My eyes are drawn to the thieves.  They earned their fate, they were not innocent. 

We are those thieves.  There is no denying it.  But which?

Which thief are you?  The "good" thief who humbles himself and admits his guilt and goes to our Lord?  Or the other thief? The thief who ridicules holiness?  He doesn't just deny Jesus, and thus the Holy Spirit, he mocks our Lord.

Is our world so different today?  Has anything changed over the last 2000 years?

I meditate on the portrait and notice light peaking through the clouds and that light shines down on our Lord, and even, it seems, on the frontside of one of the thieves.  He is allowed  in the light now, he has been forgiven.  In fact, that very day he will find himself in paradise.  Jesus promised.

But not the other.  He made his choice to deny Christ.

Today everyone screams about their rights; especially their right to choose.  They're right.  God has given free will - to each and every one of us.  We have the right to choose, because God gives us that right.

We can choose to be the "good" thief - admit our sins, repent and ask forgiveness and mercy and live in the light or we can choose not to.  It's our choice.

People say God is good and He loves us - He is absolute good and He does love us.  I've heard people justify their lifestyles by saying God would never send them to hell.  Again, they are right, He doesn't send us to hell.  He allows us to choose with our own free will where we will spend eternity.

The two thieves remain on their crosses, just as we ought, until death comes.  What comes after death for us is determined by what came before death.

Make a choice.

Do you mock holiness or embrace humility?

Do you live in the world or of the world?