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I think you’re going to be happy today!!
Today AND tomorrow!!
We are going to go through Paragraph 5: Heaven and Earth
Fr. Mike is explaining the paragraphs so do you really need me to type this part out? 😉
We will talk about ALL THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE
There is the EARTH
There is THIS WORLD
There are THINGS VISIBLE
AND…
There are also THE HEAVENS or HEAVEN ITSELF
We will highlight them a little bit
Then we will talk about there also things called ANGELS
Angels are CREATED BEINGS
Angles are PURE SPIRITS that God created when He created all things VISIBLE and INVISIBLE
The Existence of Angels-a Truth of Faith
Paragraph 328 says, “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.”
What does this mean?
The Scripture bears witness to the REALITY OF ANGELS
AND…
Our Tradition bears witness to the REALITY OF ANGELS
WHICH IS PRETTY REMARKABLE!!
We will also talk about WHO ARE ANGELS?
They are PURELY SPIRITUAL CREATURES
They have INTELLIGENCE
They have WILL
They are PERSONAL
They are IMMORTAL
Paragraph 330 says, “They are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures, as the splendor of their glory bears witness.”
As we talk about not only ALL THINGS VISIBLE…
(SQUIRREL!! 😁)
When we talked about Creation for the last few days now, we talked about how did God do it?
God did it FREELY WITHOUT ANY HELP
God did it OUT OF NOTHING
When God created all things, He created what is VISIBLE
This incredible, beautiful, glorious world around us
God also created ALL THAT WE DO NOT SEE
BUT…
We know that it exists
We know that angels exist
We know that these beings of pure spirit exists
We know that there is MORE THAT EXISTS THAN WE ACTUALLY SEE
We will dive into that SPIRITUAL REALITY over the next few days
Be where you are at right now
You have a GUARDIAN ANGEL and your guardian angel is WITH YOU RIGHT NOW
Our Lord God
Himself
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
IS COMPLETELY PRESENT!!
God is TRANSCENDENT and IMMANENT
He is OUTSIDE of Creation
BUT…
He is COMPLETELY PRESENT to Creation
He is PRESENT TO YOU RIGHT NOW
And as…
(SQUIRREL!! 😁)
MAN!!
INCREDIBLE!!
As one of His GIFTS TO YOU whom He loves…
HE HAS GIVEN YOU A GUARDIAN ANGEL!!
HE HAS AN ANGEL FOR YOU!!
This is a TRUTH OF FAITH
As you are driving…
As you are doing whatever you are doing right now…
Not only is our Lord God present to you
As you look around right now where you are and you see all this stuff
There is also so much THAT YOU DO NOT SEE
There is even SOMEONE that you do not see
Not only God
BUT…
ALSO THIS ANGEL!!
As we enter this reflection of Heaven and Earth
Things visible and invisible
Remember that we are not talking about something DISTANT
We are talking about something VERY VERY NEAR TO US
VERY VERY PRESENT TO US!!
OUR GOD AND ALL THAT HE HAS CREATED!!
So let’s turn to God now in prayer!!
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we love you and we thank you. We know that you have made more than we can see, more than eye can see, more than ear can hear, more than the human heart and mind can understand. You have made all. And we ask you, Father in Heaven, to reveal to us the world that you created. The world that is visible. Give us eyes to see the world that is visible. And give us the faith to walk in and possess, to understand in a new way, the world that we don’t see. You made it all. And you’ve made it for your Glory and to communicate your Divine Life to us. So Lord God, send our angel to protect us. And hear our prayers through the intercession of every great Saint and every Angel. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen”
So there’s a lot of BEATS here
A lot of IMPORTANT POINTS that The Catechism is making
God is the CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH according to The Apostles’ Creed
God is the creator of ALL THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE according to the Nicene Creed
So there are things we SEE
There are things we DON’T SEE
The Scriptural expression, “Heaven and Earth,” means EVERYTHING
Creation IN ITS ENTIRETY
It means TIME
It means SPACE
It means LOCATION
It means EVERYTHING
Ok, here we go!!
Paragraph 326 says, “‘Earth’ is the world of men, while ‘heaven’ or ‘the heavens’ can designate both the firmament and God’s own ‘place’...”
The firmament is the Heavens above
God’s own place is where God shares with the Angels and the Saints
That place of SPIRITUAL CREATURES that surround God
Paragraph 327 is FASCINATING
It says, “The profession of faith of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) affirms that God ‘from the beginning of time made at once (simul) out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal, that is, the angelic and the earthly, and then (deinde) the human creature, who as it were shares in both orders, being composed of spirit and body.”
Remember BARA the Hebrew word and EX NIHILO the Latin word that both mean OUT OF NOTHING?
You and I are SPIRITUAL BEINGS and CORPOREAL BEINGS
We are made of both spirit AND body
THIS IS REMARKABLE!!
God FIRST made the angels
BUT…
He also made…
(SQUIRREL!! 😁)
So He made Heaven and Earth
The Spiritual World and the Material World
Later on, God made human beings who are composed of BODY AND SPIRIT
We are a UNIQUE BEING
Some people mistakenly think that when we die we become an angel
THIS IS NOT THE CASE!! (Thanks a lot, Jimmy Stewart and It’s a Wonderful Life!! Every Time a Bell Rings an Angel Gets His Wings - It's a Wonderful Life (9/9) Movie CLIP (1946) HD 🤣)
When we die our soul and our body are separated FOR A TIME
BUT…
THAT IS NOT THE END!!
The end is that our body and our soul will be REUNITED in the RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD
Every one of us will get a RESURRECTED BODY BACK
SOME to Eternal Glory
SOME to Eternal Shame
WE DO NOT BECOME ANGELS WHEN WE DIE!!
Our soul and our body (spirit and material) separate ONLY FOR A TIME
WE DO NOT BECOME ANGELS!!
THAT IS VERY IMPORTANT
Then we move on to The Existence of Angels-a Truth of Faith
Paragraph 328 says, “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.”
Scripture points to the REALITY OF ANGELS
Our Tradition points to the REALITY OF ANGELS
There have been moments of time in history where there was a really big emphasis on angels and a really big de-emphasis on angels
Back in the day during the SCHOLASTIC PERIOD they were asking big questions
People sometimes make fun of those questions
For example, how many angels could fit on the head of a pin?
That sounds ridiculous to some of us
Are we really having a debate about this?
What does it even matter?
It’s not about PINS
It’s about the SPIRITUAL WORLD which does not take up any space
So if an angel doesn’t take up any space at all, how many of those could you fit on the head of a pin
In a very very small space?
It can sound like a ludicrous question for us at times
BUT…
The people who are asking the question were trying to get to the heart of the relationship between the SPIRITUAL REALITY (Heaven) and the MATERIAL REALITY (Earth)
There have been times when this was de-emphasized
BUT…
There have been times where angels were very emphasized and maybe even misunderstood
Paragraph 329 says, “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 seed the name of their office, it is ‘angel’.”
Spirit is what they ARE
Angel is what they DO
THEY ARE MESSENGERS!!
BUT…
The next statement is SO BEAUTIFUL
Paragraph 329 continues, “With their whole beings, the angels are servants and messengers of God.”
Tomorrow we will talk about how angels belong COMPLETELY and surrender ENTIRELY to the Lord
Even your Guardian Angel
Your Guardian Angel is not YOUR Angel
It is GOD’S Angel
They belong WHOLLY to the Lord
They love Him with their ENTIRE SELF
Paragraph 330 says, “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.”
Just like you and I are not robots, angels are not robots
THIS IS INCREDIBLE!!
We sometimes misunderstand angels
THEY ARE NOT OURS!!
THEY BELONG TO THE LORD!!
BUT…
They also are NOT fat little babies with wings
They are not this indifferent…
(SQUIRREL!! 😁)
That’s one of the things we can sometimes fall into the trap
If we imagine angels are these indifferent beings and have no emotions
That’s another scholastic type question
If you are pure spirit, do you have any emotions?
Where do your emotions reside?
Do they reside in your body?
Do they reside in your brain?
Do they reside in your soul?
Angels do have INTELLECT
Angels do have a WILL
SO…
Angels can THINK
Angels can CHOOSE
Angels can CHOOSE WITH THEIR WHOLE SELF
This seems to indicate that angels DEFINITELY CAN LOVE
Angels can choose NOT TO LOVE
That’s what the Fallen Angels are
We will talk about those maybe 10 days from now
BUT…
Angels have FULLY SURRENDERED THEIR HEARTS TO GOD
THEY ARE FULLY HIS!!
THAT IS INCREDIBLE!!
There are these beings that God created that have COMPLETE INTELLECT and a WILL
And with that INTELLECT…
And with that WILL…
THEY HAVE CHOSEN TO LOVE GOD WITH EVERYTHING THAT THEY ARE!!
WHICH IS BEAUTIFUL!!
WHICH IS POWERFUL!!
That is actually what God has created US to do too!
God has created US to LOVE HIM WITH EVERYTHING THAT WE HAVE
God has created US with an INTELLECT and a WILL
God has also given us BODIES
It’s a gift, not just a monkeywrench
As the angels were created to KNOW GOD and to LOVE GOD
WE are created to KNOW GOD and to LOVE GOD
IT IS REALLY REMARKABLE!!
Fr. Mike read about Fr. Serge-Thomas Bonino
He is an expert on angels
He said in an article, “Sometimes human beings, we recognize that as physical creatures, as material creatures, we will say that our distant cousins are monkeys. So we teach our children that human beings are sort of an improved monkey. That’s true that we have a root in the animal world. But, recalling the fact that we also have a root in the spiritual world, our closest cousins might not be chimpanzees but angels.”
WOW!!
THAT IS REMARKABLE!!
Our faith declares VERY VERY POWERFULLY that we have a rooting in the spiritual world
As Fr. Bonino says, “Our closest cousins may not be chimpanzees but angels.”
He goes on to say, “Our Lord says that we will be like the angels in Heaven. He does not say that we will be like the chimpanzees in the banana trees.”
LIKE ANGELS!!
You have been given a BODY
It is made for GOD’S GLORY
It is made to KNOW GOD
It is made to LOVE GOD
It is made to SERVE GOD
You have been given a SOUL
Just like the angels
You have a SPIRIT inside of you
That body and soul are UNIQUE
The angels are created to glorify God
AND THEY DO!!
IT IS AMAZING!!
They are fully given over to the Lord
BUT…
You also have been created to GLORIFY GOD
In a way that the angels CAN’T
Angels cannot glorify God with their bodies because they do not have bodies
BUT…
YOU AND I CAN!!
Today we rejoice in our SOUL
The fact that we are SPIRIT like the angels
And we rejoice in our BODIES
That we are different from the angels
And in some ways we are MORE than the angels
IT ALL COMES FROM GOD!!
THE CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH!!
OF ALL THINGS VISIBLE AND INVISIBLE!!
SO WE GIVE GOD PRAISE TODAY!!
MAN!!
YEAH!!
WOW!!
OK!!
Fr. Mike is going to pray about that
Fr. Mike is praying FOR YOU!!
Please pray for Fr. Mike and for each other!!
I cannot WAIT to see you tomorrow!!
Scripture References & Reflections
- compiled by Andrew Adamany
Bible Translation - RSVCE
CCC 326 "The Scriptural expression "heaven and earth" means all that exists, creation in its entirety. It also indicates the bond, deep within creation, that both unites heaven and earth and distinguishes the one from the other: "the earth" is the world of men, while "heaven" or "the heavens" can designate both the firmament and God's own "place" - "our Father in heaven" and consequently the "heaven" too which is eschatological glory. Finally, "heaven" refers to the saints and the "place" of the spiritual creatures, the angels, who surround God.”
Psalm 115:15–16
“May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
The heavens are the Lord’s heavens,
but the earth he has given to the sons of men.”
Psalm 19:1–2
“The heavens are telling the glory of God;
and the firmament proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours forth speech,
and night to night declares knowledge.”
Matthew 5:14–16
“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”
CCC 327 "The profession of faith of the Fourth Lateran Council (1215) affirms that God "from the beginning of time made at once (simul) out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal, that is, the angelic and the earthly, and then (deinde) the human creature, who as it were shares in both orders, being composed of spirit and body."
Genesis 1:1–2
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void"
Wisdom of Solomon 11:17
“For thy all-powerful hand,
which created the world out of formless matter,
did not lack the means to send upon them a multitude of bears, or bold lions"
CCC 329 "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.”
Matthew 18:10
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.”
Psalm 103:20
“Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word,
hearkening to the voice of his word!”
CCC 330 "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."
Luke 20:34–36
“And Jesus said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are accounted worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, for they cannot die any more, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.”
Daniel 10:5–12
“I lifted up my eyes and looked, and behold, a man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with gold of Uphaz. His body was like beryl, his face like the appearance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the noise of a multitude. And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, for the men who were with me did not see the vision, but a great trembling fell upon them, and they fled to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision, and no strength was left in me; my radiant appearance was fearfully changed, and I retained no strength. Then I heard the sound of his words; and when I heard the sound of his words, I fell on my face in a deep sleep with my face to the ground.
And behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And he said to me, “O Daniel, man greatly beloved, give heed to the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for now I have been sent to you.” While he was speaking this word to me, I stood up trembling. Then he said to me, “Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your mind to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words.”
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