Angels
Do your children know they each have a guardian angel? Mrs. Eddy says many children come into second grade not knowing this fact. Perhaps their parents don't know that either. Well guess what. They do have an angel. What better than to teach these little "super hero" loving little people that they each have their own real true super hero who watches over them even if they can't see them? These little people have lots of fears of monsters and such. They need to know about the special protection that God has given them from evil.
The belief in Angels is common to all Christians. According to the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, the existence of angels is a truth of faith. They are spiritual, non-corporeal beings (that is they do not have a body) called “angels” by Sacred Scripture. Scripture is very clear on this and Tradition is unanimous on it.
According to St. Augustine, the name of their nature is ‘spirit’ and what they do is ‘angel.” Angel means messenger and they are servants and messengers of God. According to Jesus, they “always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.”
Christ is at the center of the angelic world. They are His angels. (331). Angels have been present since creation and throughout salvation history. They have announced salvation from far and near. They closed the earthly paradise after Adam sinned, they protected Lot at the time of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, they saved Hagar and her child, and led the people of God in the Exodus. The angel Gabriel announced the birth of the Precursor (John the Baptist) and of Jesus Himself. (332)
They were present to serve Jesus throughout His time on earth from His birth, protected Him from Herod, ministered to Him after the Temptation in the dessert and before His death in the garden. They announced His Resurrection and Ascension. They will be with Him on His return. (334)
We celebrate particular angels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and Raphael who are archangels. There are classes of angels, guardian angels, archangels, seraphim, cherubim, dominions, and choirs of angels etc. They were classed according to their function given to them by God. The feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael is celebrated by the Church on 9/29. We celebrate the feast of our guardian angels on 10/2. From infancy to death we are surrounded by the angels who watch over us and guide us.
It is a good idea to ask our angel everyday to assist us so that we only speak things that are good, look at and admire things only that give glory to God, that we only listen to things that do not degrade ourselves and others, and we use our hands in service of God and not to injure another. It is also a good idea, if we love our friends and family to ask their angels to assist them If we are having trouble with someone, if there is someone we don’t particularly like, it is good to ask their angel and our own angel to assist us both.
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day, be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
The Fallen Angels
The church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God who became evil of his own free will. He radically rejected God and His reign. He was the highest angel and his name, Lucifer, means light. His rejection of God was so great because he had a knowledge of God that was far superior to any us humans could have. His rejection was immediate and forever. Satan is the seducer behind the fall of our first parents. He tempted them to be “like God.” Jesus Himself called Satan “a murderer from the beginning.” He is a liar, and the father of lies. His other names are “prince of the world,” in John 12:31; “the god of this world” in 2 Corinthians 4:4. He is know as “Beelzebub” or Belial,” “unclean spirit,” “tempter,” “evil one,” “Antichrist” (1 John 4:3). He is called “lion,” in 1 Peter 5:8, and a “dragon,” in Revelation. He is referred to as “serpent,” in Genesis 3. He is called by the name “devil” from the Greek word diaballein (diabolos in Spanish) which means to cause destruction, to divide, to calumniate, “to deceive.” There is not just one either. In Mark 5:9 “there are many of us” the devils cry to Jesus in the region of Gerasenes. Finally, Jesus speaks of “the devil and his angels” in Matthew 25:41. (391, 392, 394)
Satan does not have infinite power over us. He cannot make us sin. We have a free will and can choose to sin or not to sin. We cannot overestimate him nor deny his existence, which some do today, claiming he is merely a personification of evil. That is, giving evil the quality of a living being. It is in Satan’s best interest to be unknown to us. He only has a short time to do his work of trying to interfere with the work of salvation. Remember that Christ assured Peter that “Satan has sought to sift you like wheat: but I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail.” (Luke 22:31). Jesus also gave us a very powerful prayer to assist us in resisting temptation and evil in The Lord’s Prayer or Our Father.
Many of us have angel stories of our own. Ah, but that is for another time. Bless your children each night and have them say the angel prayer.
CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
THE WORLD AND WORK OF THE HOLY ANGELS by Father Robert J. Fox