Angels are always around us, but do we acknowledge their presence and invite them to work in our lives?
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It’s relatively easy to profess our belief in angels, but are we conscious of their existence in our daily lives? Do we invite these spiritual creatures to accompany us on our daily journey?
God created angels to be his spiritual messengers in the world, and besides announcing major events, such as the birth of the Messiah, they also have a mission of being with us and protecting us from spiritual danger.
Their work is often hidden, but that does not mean we can not notice their effects. Sometimes we can see their activity, either in heavenly inspirations in our soul, or in moments when we are saved from harm at the last minute. Whatever the case may be, angels are real and are concerned for our spiritual and physical well-being.
In the 19th-century book The Glories of the Catholic Church, the author reflects on the reality of angels and recalls a story of a person who tried to think about all the angels who were present in the world.
A certain holy person being one day standing near a window which opened on a populous street, was suddenly favored with a ray of divine light, by which she saw that men lived in an almost total forgetfulness of spiritual things … How many angels pass by with these poor people, said she, and yet no one thinks of them. Greatly affected at this consideration, she went to a fair, which was then being held in the vicinity, to pay her respects interiorly to the angels whom she knew to be there in great numbers, in the company of those of whom they had care, and who were quite unmindful of them. Behold a practice worthy of imitation!
The author then goes on to encourage us to greet these invisible angels when we go about our daily business.
When you walk through town, salute interiorly the angels of those whom you meet. When you go to the country, pay homage to the blessed spirits … When you enter into a church, or a public assembly, let holy faith manifest to you the presence of the angels. When you make a journey, entertain yourself with the angels of those who travel with you. When among your friends, say from time to time a little word to their angels—and when alone with yourself, speak to and entertain these blessed spirits.
This can radically change our view of the world, opening to us the reality of a hidden reality we may never see in this life. Our world is full of creatures, both visible and invisible. If we are conscious of that fact on a daily basis, our eyes will look differently on the people we meet.
Angels are among us and we owe much of our life to their protective care.
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