Angels? Who are they?

Angels? Are they real? How do you know? Is it a true fact?

"The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls "angels" is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition
CCC 328."

What are they? What do they do? Who are they?

"St. Augustine says: 'Angel' is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; if you seek the name of their office, it is 'angel': from what they are, 'spirit', from what they do, 'angel.' With their whole beings the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they "always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven" they are the "mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word"
CCC 329."

"As purely spiritual creatures angels have intelligence and will: they are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory bears witness
CCC 330."

Are they really here, on Earth? Are they really near me?

"From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life." Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God
CCC 336."


"Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them freguently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you."
Saint francis de sales

So, they are real. They are near. They are Persons. It is a truth of Faith. Kind of hard to believe at times, but,

"Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan: they closed the earthly paradise; protected Lot; saved Hagar and her child; stayed Abraham's hand; communicated the law by their ministry; led the People of God; announced births and callings; and assisted the prophets, just to cite a few examples. Finally, the angel Gabriel announced the birth of the Precursor and that of Jesus himself.
<sup>CCC 332."



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If

IF you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

~By Rudyard Kipling~

The Difference

I got up early one
Morning
And rushed right into
The day.
I had so much to
Accomplish
That I didn’t have
Time to pray.
Problems just stumbled
About me,
And heavier came
Each task.
“Why doesn’t God
Help me?” I wondered.
He answered,
“You didn’t ask.”
I wanted to see joy
And beauty,
But the day toiled on,
Gray and bleak.
I wondered why God
Didn’t show me.
He said,
“But you didn’t seek.”
I tried to come into
God’s presences.
I used all my keys at
The lock.
God gently and
Lovingly chided,
“My Child, you didn’t
knock.”
I woke up early this
Morning
And paused before
Entering the day.
I had so much to
Accomplish
That I had to take time
To pray.

~ Author unknown

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