Showing posts with label angels. Show all posts
Showing posts with label angels. Show all posts

Sunday, September 29, 2013

The Angels of the Little Ones

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Not like a man with intellect and reason and experience, not like a seasoned veteran of war, not like a teacher with initials and degrees come down from the ivory tower, or even like a man who has run a business and shown a profit, but like a child, a little one, you must become. You must give up your airs, your status, your independence and control. You must be vulnerable. You must turn, repent, be converted and risk all on the simple trust that God is good, that He knows best, and that He will take care of you. That, dear friends, is faith.

So it is that greatness in the Kingdom of heaven is measured differently than greatness in the kingdoms of men. For the greatest and most wonderful thing in the Kingdom of heaven is the most despised and pitiable thing in the kingdoms of men, even the unjust, brutal, and bloody execution of Our Lord. In Christ's kingdom, where Grace rules, weakness is strength, poverty is riches, and dependence and vulnerability are virtues.

Monday, October 1, 2012

"He Has A Short Time"

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

What are angels? Just the mention conjures up myriad images in the minds of Christians and unbelievers alike. A great deal of the time, angels are portrayed as some variation on the image of Shirley Temple with wings. Naked, winged babies are another popular image. In general, popular imagination sees angels as something cute, something beautiful, something peaceful and calm. But what are angels, really?
To begin with, angels are not Shirley Temple with wings. Angels have no gender – no male or female – and who knows if they have hair. Angels are spiritual beings, and the Scriptures make no representation that they look anything at all like human beings. Cupid is a fictional character, a product of the Roman mythological world, and he bears no connection to real angels. Angels have much better things to do than wander around and zap humans with love-arrows.