115: The Angels and the Word of God

We imagine the invisible world as having God (the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit) and the Saints. Seeing the Saints as friends, filled with the love of Jesus, we understand that their friendship, prayer and help doesn't stop with their death.

Sometimes we tend to forget the existence of the Angels, with all their grades, while in fact they have a very important and constant role to play in our life and salvation. If you want to remove the Angels, then not only will you have to remove large portions of the Scriptures and Tradition, but as well, many things will be lacking.

We think that during our prayer the interaction is only about God and us. Our understanding of prayer and “intimacy” with God is thought of as something of a silent and empty world, which only God and us inhabit. Significantly, however, Zachariah was at Prayer when God sent him his Messenger, GABRIEL. Similarly Mary was very probably at Prayer when God sent her his Messenger, GABRIEL.

Intimacy with God is often seen as something exclusive. However, Saint John of the Cross gives us an important answer to this question (in the Spiritual Canticle):

1- The Angels will always continue to be present in our lives, from day one, till the last day, so it is better to pay attention to this spiritual Friend, sent by God to help us and protect us. If you doubt this, you can contemplate Jesus himself, who is in His Human Nature Holy, the Holiest, and see how the Angels are present ans serve and help him (when He is tempted in the Desert, and when He prays in the Garden before his Passion). Are we better than Jesus? Stronger than Jesus? More intimate with God the Father than the Son Incarnate? So, keep this in mind, you will have them and need them. Your Master did, as a man, so you will have to.. with all the more reason.

2- Saint John of the Cross says (in the Spiritual Canticle) that the Angels play an important role in the long first stage of Spiritual Life Growth. They Transmit to us God's Messages, God's Word. Do you have doubts about this? Well remember what Gabriel says about himself and what Elisabeth says about Mary:

“I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time.” (Luke 1:19-20)

“Blessed is she who believed, for there will be a fulfilment of those things [words] which were told her from the Lord.” (Luke 1:45)

We see, then, that a Messenger is a being who transmits a Message, in our case, a Word from God. He carries something that doesn't belong to him, something sacred. This is what you see in the first quote from St Luke: Gabriel makes it clear: he is not doing something on his own, of his own personal private initiative: He is Standing in Front of God. No games, no tricks, this is SERIOUS. He is not doing or transmitting anything that is not From God, willingly sent by God himself. So the respect you owe to the Sender (God) is the same respect you owe to the Message his messenger is sending according to His order. This is why St Thomas Aquinas, in his Summa Theologica, says that this is the way God governs the world: He sends orders, He sends Messengers, and they execute his orders. He uses myriads of Angels to govern the world. So, there is nothing wrong in considering that the Angels are God's Messengers, God's Transmitters. This is the meaning of the word Angel: messenger.

“Behold, I send an Angel before you to keep you in the way and to bring you into the place which I have prepared. Beware of Him and obey His voice; do not provoke Him, for He will not pardon your transgressions; for My name is in Him. But if you indeed obey His voice and do all that I speak, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversaries. For My Angel will go before you […].” (Exodus 23:20-23)

But, when the spiritual person is growing, you reach a point where two things happen at the same time: one may confuse the messenger with the Sender, and the Message itself needed is becoming of greater significance. This is why St John of the Cross says to God at that spiritual juncture: “stop sending me Messengers of your beauty, the one I need is you Jesus”. It doesn't mean that from day one the Messengers are not serving this purpose. Not at all. It means only that the growth of the Soul, and the possible confusion this produces, make the Soul become wider and wider, more thirsty, and make her shout loudly: I want more, and the One I want is you Jesus.

As we said above, this doesn't mean that the person, now reaching a new step in her growth, will then forget completely about the Angels; no. It is just means a huge step forward is being taken. Remember as well, in order to be faithful to St John of the Cross, he thought that he was asking God not only to stop “fooling” him with smaller “messengers of his beauty” like Angels, but he mentions as well Nature, as a Messenger of God's beauty. You can apply this distinction and desire for Christ himself and His entirety to everything (think of the small things we stop to look at sometimes in the Bible, while at a certain point the soul is that purified and ready that its thirst for Christ becomes huge: thirst for Christ in a new way, i.e. in His entirety).

Small words (like crumbs) now are not enough, the soul wants THE WORD of GOD Incarnate: Jesus.

Now, let us remain in the long first stage of spiritual life (in the majority of persons is takes sadly years, and very few cross it, not that God doesn't want this to happen, but the “engines” that push for growth aren not well known and used): God Messengers are conveying to us His Word. Of course with the Holy Spirit.

Don't you think that like the word of God we have words that are not from God? The Word of God carries Divine Life, the Holy Spirit. The words that don't come from God, are carrying death, the reduction/shrinking, of our being. These words exist. There are hardly any neutral words. And if there are, they reduce our being to a small object of consideration. Take Science for example: Science is science, it is rampant, it doesn't fly to God. It needs God to open our soul, so that Science becomes the sign of a bigger Being. Science then belongs to a different level of contemplation! One has to go from it, and be elevated by God, in order to be able to see the beauty of God in it. This is illustrates the neutral words one can meet in one's life.

What about the rest of the words that nourish our mind, will, heart and freedom everyday? What about the words that shape our decisions everyday? From where do they come? Are they all from God?

Let us remember that we have three sources of words that are NOT Divine Life and Holy Spirit. Those sources are very well present to us, often unconsciously, but very well acting in us.

1- The world, 2- the flesh, and 3- the Devil/Satan and his angels. The three of them convey to us words, constantly, often unconsciously, but efficiently, and bear their fruits in us, through us.

These are three messengers, carriers, of words that are not Life and Spirit, Divine Life, and Holy Spirit.

As we acknowledge the existence of Angels, as Messengers of God, daily carriers of His Words, we have to acknowledge the existence of three other carriers, who carry other words, that are very bad, carrying death, death of our mind, death of our will, making us shrink more and more, and fall into darker areas. Mind you, sometimes we are so used to those words coming from the world, the flesh, and the devil, that we are not aware anymore about what the Light is and what difference it makes. We get used to the darkness and to its light. It is like when you go out dancing: you are in a big room, that is dark, full of loud noise, and you spend hours there, and you are not aware at all of what is happening to you. On the contrary, you call this life, fun, entertainment! Well, for a while!

So, let us become more aware of these different messengers, and let us become aware of the words they send us. Let us open our minds to a deeper and more differentiated way to understand the word: “words”. What is that food that we feed our souls with? Are they good or poisonous? It is exactly like certain things we eat: we find the taste delicious but when we read about the ingredients, we find that a lot of will power is needed to decide to overcome that fake artificial taste and attraction to it, in order to refrain from that “rubbish” that you are eating and “liking”.

Yes it requires awareness, Grace of God, to stop eating dead words, and turn to God, and listen to His Messengers, and to the Message, Divine Word, they carry to you.

I am sure “you are with me”! Let us pray for each other, let us choose our friends, let the choice fall on the ones who took the determined decision to seek the Divine Words, that give Divine Life. Are you ProDivineLife? Are you ProDivineWords?

Let us pray for each other, let us ask the Prayers of the Angels, let us be attentive to their Constant Presence and service to our soul, searching our Good all the time, always available to help and rejoicing when we turn, determined, to God, and God's Words.

St. Padre Pio

Prayer to the Guardian Angel

"O Holy Guardian Angel,
take care of my soul and my body.

Enlighten my mind to know the Lord better

and love Him with all my heart.

Assist me in my prayers to do not fall into distractions

but you keep the greatest attention.

Help me with your advice, to recognise the good and perform it with generosity.

Rescue me from the snares of the infernal enemy
and uphold me in temptations to always win them.

Replace me in my coldness while worshipping of the Lord:

not cease to attend to my custody

until you will bring me to Paradise,

where together we will praise the Good Lord for all eternity."

Do you have a guardian Angel? 2/2

(The following is taken from the eBook: "Seven letters from your Angel" please see the link here)

First letter

A Palpable Presence 

My Beloved,
As you see, I start my first letter to you calling you "my Beloved", this is just to open your eyes to the fact that I am somebody who loves you dearly and to whom you mean everything. Yes, my life is linked to yours as I am destined to be always close to you, to walk the journey of this life with you; to help you, guide you and comfort you; to give you all sorts of help according to your needs of the moment. We are called to walk together, to "grow" together; our destiny is to be together.

Even though I am immersed in the Light and Love of Above and am constantly submerged with heavenly joy; I am continuously with you, I never abandon you, and am here to help you and serve you.

The "smiling angel" (Reims Cathedral)

As you see, my first letter to you has the reassuring title that summarizes my first gift to you: "a 'palpable' presence".

Yes I am "palpable"; my being can communicate with you in several tangible ways. So this is to reassure you that you will not be in the illusion of an abstract speech, you will not be transported to an abstract world through strange experiences (even though the spiritual experience with me will lead to such new horizons). I am here, present for you, very present for you, looking at you with such care and love. I am your closest friend, and it is so natural to be here and communicate. It is as if you have your eyes closed in a room full of sunlight with your best friend close to you; you feel his presence, you know that he is here; he sees you.

I listen to you always; whether you tell me with your voice or only with your thoughts. So this is the first step. I am with you all the time, I hear you, and I see you. I am not indiscreet. I am here when you need me, I respect you.

As I mentioned: my presence is palpable, you too, can hear me. Here are some examples from your daily experience, so you'll realize that we have communicated before, but you didn't know it was me. Very often, in the early morning, when you are still in bed, and you are in a state between sleeping and being awakened, I send you a small luminous message. You may start to notice the first thought, not the subsequent thoughts. The first is pure and comes from me; the impressions that follow are already "immersions" in your day, in your world, in your problems. The very first one is my gift of the day. So don't forget to treasure my first message of the morning and help it give fruits in your day, as the day is the unit of your life. Every day is an entire life.

But I am not here only to give you the first message. I will give you other examples: very often I protected your body from accidents, or from being harmed. You perhaps didn't pay enough attention to my protection, but I am here. And in many ways I even penetrated into your material world, for example the engines you use, electricity, I help when it is necessary. Sometimes I soften sharp effects, so any harm becomes like a message, a warning from me telling you that you are forgetting something, and your balance is broken.

Very often, I also communicated to you my thoughts. Yes, in your head, in your cranial bone you have a "window" on each side: your temples. This is to open the communication with me, so I can communicate to you my thoughts, the light, new ideas, and indications for decisions and new insights. As you see, through your soft skin and brain, I communicate to your mind ideas, thoughts and light. Yes, it is subtle and difficult to make the difference between my thoughts and yours, because we are so close, and you don't have ample awareness of what happens in your mind and how. But you will always notice that my thoughts are new. They don't come from you but rather from an external source. You may notice that very often they come when, after a hard struggle in the darkness, your tensions are released, so that at this point you are ready to receive my light. The effort you made, the struggle you went through, dug a place for the light, so you can hear me and receive my light easily.

Sometimes my warning may appear like "knocking" in your brain, such as when you have a headache; it is just a way to attract your attention, so you would stop any activity and listen to me.

Sometimes I give you a sign of my presence, like for example placing on your path a small feather.

So as you see, we have already spoken and communicated just like two close friends.

My beloved, now that you have a new awareness, we can do more. If you are more attentive to my presence, to the free gift of my constant presence beside you, if you envisage how much I want to help you in your daily life to reach new heights, you will increase your perception, your capacity for communication, and you will feel me more tangibly.

Some people can see their angels or other angels. If this gift is given to you then it is fine - enjoy this help. However it is not necessary to see me. We communicate already, and the normal daily means are given to you. You will always have my thoughts and ideas to help you every day, according to your needs. Now concentrate more on what is already given to you and improve it with higher awareness.

Meditate, take a few minutes to ask for my help to see clearly today’s step. Everyday you can grow. So take a few minutes, concentrate, ask for my help and watch for my guidance, clearly identifying today's true need – the path to follow.

Treat me as your friend; speak to me and then focus on feeling my presence, my love and my help more clearly.

I offer you today and only once, the gift of receiving small (or large) signs of my presence. Ask for three signs and surely I'll bring them to you, so you will doubt my presence no more.

But later, don't keep asking for these signs. Respect, sincerity, and commitment are important. It is not a game; it is a relationship, a friendship. Afterwards you will enjoy many signs of my presence, as they come, like in a dance in nature.

Now one last word of advice: don't hesitate to read again and meditate on this letter. Accordingly you'll be able to extract its substance and have a new start in your life.

Tomorrow, I'll send you my Second Letter. Don't think about it now, receive today's grace, and leave tomorrow for tomorrow.

I am here; I won’t leave you, EVER.

Rejoice in our friendship.

Your Angel

(From the eBook: "Seven letters from your Angel" please see the link here)

Do you have a guardian Angel? 1/2

(The following is taken from the eBook: "Seven letters from your Angel" please see the link here)

Introduction

Why a book on angels? Is it necessary to write one more book on angels? Knowledge of Angels, Experience and Discernment can always grow. Angels are so important in our lives that to know them better, by having more discernment of their presence and their help can completely transform us.

They are our friends. They look out for us and care for us. They are so close to us that missing the opportunity to communicate with them is quite sad. In fact, their presence adds Light, Love and Joy to our lives. They open to us new infinite horizons, and they help us see the meaning of our life and our mission. They are Messengers of Light and Love for us; Transmitters and Channels of the Light and Love that come from above.

Many wonderful books have been written on them, many movies have been made about them. Some traditions can still be explored more and more; their place in spiritual life better explained. We always need to increase our Knowledge, Experience and Discernment about them.

It is so natural to speak about them, or to let them speak. They are our friends, so naturally close to us. They have such a love for us, such a caring love, yet we are the ones who can't imagine how a friendship is possible with them. They want to speak to us but they don't know how to awaken our inner hearing. They are sad to see us without help, lonely and living within such limited horizons. They know that it is often difficult for us to "imagine" the presence of an invisible world, but their world is real, and the experience of it is so close and possible, that they invite people to broaden the Knowledge, Experience and Discernment of them.

An Angel is an invisible friend who is here, close to us, who never leaves us, and who wants to help, to guide and to transmit Light and Love to us.  They are neither the Light nor the Love but rather they are a channel and a servant. They are messengers of Light and Love and the channels that bring to us all that we need from Above. The word "Angel" means "messenger" from the Greek: "Angelos". However, they are beings, a complete and personal being just like you and me, although without a material body as we know it. They have an intelligence, a will and consequently feelings, albeit spiritual feelings so a normal friendship with us on earth is absolutely possible.

Note : In Jewish, Christian, Muslim and other traditions an Angel can be one who acts as a messenger, attendant or agent of God. The name given to the them indicates that what counts most is the tasks of the Angels in regard to man: angel (angelus) in fact means "messenger". The Hebrew malak, used in the Old Testament, signifies more precisely "delegate" or "ambassador".

In a way they have a double mysterious capacity; they see and are immersed in the Light and Love whilst at the same time seeing and communicating with us.

This book contains seven letters from our personal Angel. The first seven letters addressed to us from an Angel (be it male or female Angel – you choose which feels more appropriate), to open our eyes to the reality of Angels, to give insight into their world, and to guide us ever closer to new horizons in our lives. Each letter is centred on one specific "light" they are bringing to us. Each letter is a step in our lives that lets us - if we allow it - improve our life, our experience and our discernment. The letters can be read later again and again to deepen, in new circles, the same theme as often we miss things at first reading.

These letters from our Angel are the first step in our Knowledge, Experience and Discernment of Angels. But we must not forget that we are always "beginners" because we are growing, as in spirals, from a beginning to a beginning, in unending starts. So these letters will always be like new propellers that push us toward a new beginning, because we are facing an infinite horizon of Light and Love.

Do not forget: each letter is a personal letter from your Angel to you.

Though it is important not to read more than one letter a day, the attitude with which you receive this message from your Angel is important, because it helps you receive a greater benefit. The choice of the place and the silence surrounding you is important too. Light a candle and sit comfortably.

(From the eBook: "Seven letters from your Angel" please see the link here)

Is God a Real King? If so, in which sense? II

Today's Psalm says: “The LORD is King; let the earth rejoice” (Ps 97,1).

How can the Lord be King on earth? We already addressed that topic few days ago (1st of June 2012. See here). Here it comes again. Let us explore it more.

Last Sunday we had this Parable: Jesus Said "To what shall we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable can we use for it? 
It is like a mustard seed that, when it is sown in the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on the earth. 
But once it is sown, it springs up and becomes the largest of plants and puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the sky can dwell in its shade." (Mc 4:26-34)

I have a suggestion: the “birds” can be understood as the “angels”. I see it this way: “the birds of the sky” are the Guardian Angels of our brothers who are in need, the ones that God wants us to help. We do not go to heaven alone. God increases His Love in us, and therefore He enables us to carry our brothers and sisters, so we can pray for them, guide them, lead them to heaven. We access them, and help them through their Guardian Angels, that dwell in the shade of the Charity of God in us.

Our growth is symbolised this way: we start by being as small as a "mustard seed". But the 'new being' in us becomes 'the largest of plants and puts forth large branches'. This is the sign of the growth of love in us, the capacity to receive (spiritual hospitality) in our heart our brothers and sister that God entrust us.

This means, that when we reach a certain growth (the union with Jesus), we kind of have a direct contact (through their angels) with other persons, and all what we do has a direct impact on them, and when we pray, it is with them that we go to God. This is how saint Thérèse puts it:

“the Holy Spirit, before Jesus' birth, dictated this prophetic prayer: Draw one, we shall run [Canticle 1.3]. What is it then to ask to be ''Drawn" if not to be united in an intimate way to the object which captivates our heart? If fire and iron had the use of reason, and if the latter said to the other: "Draw me. would it not prove that it desires to he identified with the fire in such a way that the fire penetrate and drink it up with its burning substance and seem to become one with it'? Dear Mother, this is my prayer: I ask Jesus to draw me into the flames of His love, to unite me so closely to Him that He live and act in me [Ga 2.20]. I feel that the more the fire of love bums within my heart, the more I shall say: Draw me, the more also the souls who will approach me (poor little piece of iron useless if l withdraw from the divine furnace), the more these souls: will run swiftly in the odour of the ointments [Sg 1.3] of their Beloved, for a soul that is burning with love cannot remain inactive.” (Manuscript C, toward the end)

So again: God can reign through us. When the Tree of Jesus is huge in us, we can “carry” our brothers and sisters (in fact God united them to us), and God communicates to them through us His Graces. Of course He can do it all by Himself, but this is not His choice. He wants us to participate to the new life of our brothers, to their “salvation” as we say, he wants us to reach that maturity that would allow us to really help them.

He doesn't want to have only saved virgins (the virginity of the new Faith) he wants his virgins to be mothers, in Him and through Him, of new brothers and sisters. This is the will of God and this is His plan for us. The dignity of 'just a saved person' is already very high (a Son or a Daughter of God), but the real total dignity that Jesus-God wants for us is 'to participate to the salvation of our brothers and sisters', 'to take part of the Work of Salvation'. Remember saint Paul who says (see Col 1:24): "I complete in my flesh what is lacking to the Passion of Christ [not that anything lacks to it] for his Body, the Church [which means: taking part into the work of applying the Salvation already obtained by Jesus on the Cross to the world]".

When you see the big Tree in one of us, yes you can and have to say: “The LORD is king; let the earth rejoice” (Ps 97,1)

This is the Real victory and Reign of God on Earth. This is how He becomes King on earth: Through you. This is His will.

"Thy Kingdom Come...", make me, o Lord, a Big tree, with large branches, fill me with your Charity, make me the House of thousands and millions that are seeking a house. Spiritual hospitality.