Man in Relation to the Angels

Hello, friends, long time no see!  Tonight I am answering a couple questions the very patient Jose' asked me MONTHS ago!

Here is his question:

The question is on the Angels and where we stand in relation to them in the "Great Hierarchy". 


When I speak to most Protestants I find that they believe that it is man's destiny to surpass Angels and stand nearer to God than they. Essentially, that Angels are closer to God FOR NOW because of man's fallen nature, but that man was once closer to God than Angels in the time of Adam and Eve, and that humans shall be raised higher than Angels once again one day. Man, as God originally made him, is higher than the Angels. 


Yet, as I watch EWTN I often find individual Theologian's often putting Angels closer to God than man, by nature. In Psalm 8 we find a line that says "Only a Little lower than the Angels you made us", and that to me sort of sealed the deal in favor of Angels, by nature, being closer to God. Recently, though, I have found that not all translators say the same in that Psalm. Some Translators actually say the PSalmist writes "Only a little lower than GOD you made us." ...That tips the scale in favor of my Protestant friends' belief that MAN has the higher nature, fallen as it currently is. What do you think?

Great question!

To answer it I looked not only to Sacred Scripture, but also to the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas who, of course, is far wiser than I am!

First, to Scripture. I went to my  1966 Jerusalem Bible and inquired there first, with the passage in question:  Psalm 8:5.

The Psalm states:

YHWH, our Lord,
how great your name throughout the earth!
Above the heavens is your majesty chanted
by the mouths of children, babes in arms.
You set your stronghold firm against your foes
to subdue enemies and rebels.
I look up at your heavens, made by your fingers,
at the moon and stars you set in place -
ah, what is man that you should spare a thought for him,
the son of man that you should care for him?
Yet you have made him little less than a god,
you have crowned him with glory and splendour
made him lord over the work of your hands,
set all things under his feet,
sheep and oxen, all these
yes, wild animals too,
birds in the air, fish in the sea
travelling the paths of the ocean.
YHWH, our Lord,
how great your name throughout the earth!

Now that we have the Psalm in front of us, we can consider the proper context. Notice first that the word "god" in this translation is not capitalized. The footnote for verse 8 states, ""The author is thinkin gof man in comparison with the mysterious beings that constitute the court of YHWH, Ps 29:1+, the 'angels' of Greek and Vulg. see Cf. Ps 45:6+"

With those directions, I look to Psalm 29:1:

"Pay tribute to Yahweh, you sons of God,
tribute to Yahewh of glory and power,
tribute to Yahweh of the glory of his name,
worship Yahweh in his sacred court." 

Psalm 45:6  

"Your throne, God, shall last for ever and ever..."

Then I went to look at the margin to see what directions this Bible gives me for  understanding Psalm 8:5.

It references Gen 1:26-28:

"God said, 'Let us make man in our own image, in the likeness of ourselves, and let them be masters of the fish of the sea, the birds of heaven, the cattle, all the wold beasts and all the reptiles that crawl upon the earth."

and Wisdom 2:23:

"Yet God did make man imperishable,
he made him in the image of his own nature;
it was the devil's envy that brought death into the world,
as those who are his partners will discover."

and Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 17:1-4

"The Lord fashioned man from the earth,
to consign him back to it.
He gave them so many days' determined time,
he gave them authority over everything on earth."

Taking all those scriptures into consideration, it is clear that God did not establish Man to be above the angels. First, in looking at the Psalm itself in its full context, the Psalm indicates Man was granted dominion over the earth and the creatures of the earth; to wit, all the works of God's hands here on earth. Man, too, was fashioned from the earth he rules.

Looking also at the fact that the word "god" is not capitalized, the footnotes in the Bible ring true; the word is not referencing the Lord, and doesn't use the Tetragrammaton as it uses throughout the rest of the Psalm when speaking of the Lord. Rather, the reference to "mysterious beings" and the common language of the Greeks for "gods", used poetically to mean "angels" in the Hebrew context does make sense. Therefore, the Psalmist was not saying that Man had ever been higher than the angels. If so, where is the reference to Man being set above the angels? It isn't there.

Secondly, then, I looked to St. Thomas Aquinas. In the Summa Theologica, Q108. Article 8, Reply 2, he states, "The angels according to the order of nature are between us and God".


Now, that brings us to your second question:

I am aware that there is ONE human being that has risen above the Angels. That is, of course, the Queen of Angels the Holy Virgin Mary. Yet, I must consider that she is hardly the answer to that question. She is, after all, a VERY VERY SPECIAL human being. God touched her nature in a very special way at her very Conception. She had a very special relationship to God in His human life on Earth. And of course there is her EXTRAORDINARY virtue to consider. She has the whole package in a way no other human, that isn't also God, has had or will ever have again. If we were talking math and statistics, I would consider the Virgin Mary an OUTLYER than skews the results. I can't help but think, "Yeah, SHE is held in Higher esteem by our Lord than the Angels, but....Who ELSE could God hold closer to our older brothers, the Angels, than she? There can't be anyone else."

The Angels were created as pure spirit and in the beginning, had free will. It was the creation of Man and God's plan of salvation that brought about the division of angels and demons;  those who, led by Lucifer, cried out, "Non serviam! I will not serve!" made their final choice in that moment. That was the, for lack of a better term (in my vocabulary in any case) the particular judgment of the spiritual beings we call "Angels".  After that point, Angels no longer had free will because it was not and is not necessary.  Angels are more intelligent than we are, they are always privy to the Divine Processions, always gaze upon the face of God, and always did.

Man was not created with the intelligence, or even the capacity for the intelligence of the Angels. Man was never higher than the angels (except for Mary).

As you alluded to, through the action of the Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Christ, God did indeed create Mary immaculately, preserving her from the stain of sin, and to her, He gave jurisdiction over the Angels. This is why she is called "Queen of the Angels" in one of her titles. It is why in art that the Archangel Gabriel kneels before her; the art is revealing this truth of who she was and more importantly, who she was asked to bear. It was her fiat that brought salvation into the world, and for this reason, she has been elevated the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, Queen of Angels, Queen of Heaven.

Keep in mind that Mary also had free will; she could have refused the Angel's message. She could have said "no". But no, she bowed her head and in joyful humility proclaimed, "I am the handmaid of the Lord. Be it done unto me according to Thy Word."

And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us.

We know how this story ends!

I hope that helps, Jose, and I hope my very brief, in-a-nutshell explanation suffices! Please let me know where I have been unclear or of course, if I botched an explanation. This, of course, is not meant to be an entire theology of the angels, but there are some wonderful books out there that cover the subject. I believe. Fr. Groeschel has one and I can think of a few others as well. Unfortunately I can't recall their titles so hopefully someone will happen along and help us out!

Prayer in Spiritual Darkness

I am constantly reminded that we don't pray because God needs us to do so...but because WE need that communication from Him that comes only from entering into Him through His Word.

God knows what we need before we need it, and speaks, often quite clearly, through the psalms as we pray them in the Liturgy of the Hours.

Yesterday's psalms were particularly striking as I fought my spiritual battle (and lost, brutally), and today....ah, today. Today, the Feast of the Archangels, reminding us that our primary battles aren't of this world, but are against the powers and principalities that seek to steal us away from Our Lord.

Yesterday, during Daytime Prayer, I prayed, from Psalm 40:

"For I am beset with evils

too many to be counted.

My sins have fallen upon me

and my sight fails me.

They are more than the hairs of my head

and my heart sinks.

O Lord, come to my rescue,

Lord, come to my aid."

Every prayer yesterday spoke to me, even the Antiphons: "I am poor, but the Lord takes care of me." Even if I wasn't believing that in the moment, I had to obey the text, and pray the words, making that act of trust I didn't "feel". Those very words were an echo of a prayer I offer nearly every day, the prayer of Queen Esther: "Help me Lord for I am all alone, and I have no one but Thee."

Someone, somewhere else in the world, prayed those very same words from the Liturgy of the Hours with a heart and soul overflowing with trust...enough to make up for what I lack. It's one of the things I love about the Liturgy of the Hours; it is the Church at prayer and none united in that prayer, even if only dryly mouthing words, is left behind. All, even those who refuse to pray, are carried along through the pure force of God's own love being returned to Him in a never-ending cycle.

Today, I struggle to take heart, as we celebrate one of my favorite Feasts. My battle isn't over, but the psalms and readings today point to the final victory; if there is nothing in my own life to give me hope, there is still hope to be found in knowing what is to come. I don't seek God's will each day, each moment to please myself, but rather, to please Him, even when I don't understand. I am blinded, and know that right now, it does not please God to give me sight. It's never easy to trust, and I know that this is exactly what He is asking me to do.

So I pray to the Holy Angels, asking for their protection as I continue to wander in this desert that is my life, knowing there must be a reason, and there are probably spiritual battles taking place around me which perhaps it is better that I don't see.

*

Comments continue to be closed. I don' t have the energy to deal with them and don't expect to any time soon. Vocational discernment is Hell and life in general isn't much better right now. *

Annunciation

Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. Behold you shall conceive and bear a son and he will be called the Son of the Most High.

I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be done unto me according to thy word.

The words of the angel, words of comfort to a young girl who didn't know what to make of both his greeting and very appearance: "Do not be afraid."

He announced to Mary her role in salvation history, and with great compassion as well as great hope; it is said that all of Heaven held their breath in anticipation, awaiting her response. She had free will, and could have refused such a gift. But through Mary's yes, through her unconditional fiat, she brought salvation into the world in the person of her Son.

Mary's "yes" overturned Eve's "no" and effected the beginning of the reconciliation of man to God.  Her complete and willful obedience was in answer to Eve's complete and willful disobedience. 

We honor her today and are called to ponder in our own hearts this great and joyful mystery. 

Although I have been praying the Sorrowful Mysteries for most of lent, today I will suspend that discipline and pray the Annunciation, over and over again, focusing on that moment in time, that moment of complete surrender and complete trust in God. 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee!  Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. 

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.  

Amen. 

Devotion to the Holy Angels

I have long had a devotion to the Angels, having been introduced to my Guardian Angel at a young age thanks to my dear mother.

Feathers for Children

We used to lie in bed on lazy afternoons, reaching upwards towards the ceiling, I on my mother's left, my brother on her right. Our image of angels were of beings that looked like us, but invisible, and with beautiful wings. Mom explained that they were flying over our heads, and if we raised our hands above us, we could feel the feathery tips as they passed over, constantly revolving in their acts of protection.

It's one of my favorite memories of childhood; holding my fingers upward while lying in bed, sometimes feeling a breeze against my fingertips, while my brother cried out that he had touched a feather. Mom smiled, praising my brother as I tried to stretch upwards even further, not wanting to sit up in order to reach them, asking my Angel to fly a little lower so I could touch his wing, desperately wanting to have the same experience as my brother.

Then I would cry, because the closest I could get was a little breeze, which might have been just a random draft, or maybe a flap of his wing. I was too little, I thought, and in my littleness, I couldn't reach the dear angels, whom I loved so dearly! And then Mom, seeing my tears, would comfort me and say they were only pretending, and even my brother, in a moment of sincere big-brotherhood, would admit he was pretending, too, and he couldn't feel their wings, either.

But a part of me still believes, even as I know angels are pure spirit, and don't fly overhead, that they did generate the breezes that caressed my tiny fingers, and that maybe my brother and my mother DID experience the sensation of feathers against their fingertips, held aloft in a moment of imagination, truly reaching upwards to God through His beautiful servants, our Guardians.

Our Fierce Protectors

Have you ever read the description of the Angels in the Bible? The term "Angel" really describes a role, as opposed to who they are. Maybe we adopt the term because, as humans, what we are is what we use to describe us. Angels are more insubstantial; they fulfill many roles, and collectively, we call these beings by one name even though they carry out different facets of the Will of God.

Have you read of the description of the Cherubim or the Seraphim? Have you taken in how fierce they are, how they worship Our Lord continually, how they do His will so perfectly?

And yet, they are so gentle that Abba gives them to the tiniest of children, entrusting such souls to their care. Guardian Angels can come from any one of the heirarchies of Angels...and each of them is fierce in their love for God, and their love for God's adopted children.

Naming One's Angel

I have read many things about naming one's Guardian Angel, and some of those articles seem quite convincing. There are many anecdotes about how people pray for a name, and it comes. (What's amazing to me is how many times those names are "Michael")

I used to pray to know my Angel's name, but then I read further, and found that, in spiritual warfare, names are important. Names are powerful, and the names of Angels...unpronounceable. All we could discern are derivatives. We must also remember the Fallen Angels, those demons that seek to steal us away from God, and those demons also have names. In an exorcism, the Exorcist asks for the name of the demon; that name can give the exorcist power over it...or, in the case of the unprepared...the power of the demon over the soul. Imagine, if you will, that you pray for the name of your Angel, and a Fallen Angel offers his name? Thus, when you pray, you pray to the name of the demon, entrusting yourself to it. And it chuckles, realizing that it now has you in it's power, freely given by you.

Names are important. Names have power.

We are not meant to know the names of our Holy Angels, those sweet Guardians. They remain nameless so that greater Glory can be given to God. Angels are humility nearly personified, remaining anonymous (but for those revealed in Sacred Scripture or Tradition), while those who give their names are seeking glory through their own pride.

If you pray, then, for a name to your Angel and there is a response, question the response...for who is being glorified when you call that name? How many have as their personal protector the Archangel Michael? How many have as a personal protector the Archangel Raphael?

How many people who claim to be reincarnated claim famous people as their own incarnation?

Do not those Angels, the ones named in Scripture, already have assignments? Any Saint or Angel can certainly be a special Patron, but our Guardian Angels are ours alone, assigned specifically to us, individually. Their names can't be known.

We as human beings are weak in the realm of the spirit, and we must trust the Our Lord and the Church to guide us. Certainly it is possible that our Guardian Angels might reveal their names to us, but I find it safer to follow the advice of recognized Exorcists to allow our Guardians to remain nameless so that we may call upon their Mission, not their name, in order to avoid calling upon the Nemesis.

It is important for us to recognize our Angels, but we can do this by using the mind of God, of remembering the virtue of Humility, and leaning on our Angels as we learn this foundational virtue.

I used to ask for my Angel's name...now I just pray to him, calling upon his title, for we are comfortable enough with one another that his name is not important; it is his function and subsequent relationship with me that glorifies God.

Our ways are not God's ways, and even if we do not understand His mysteries, we are bound to follow them. I thank God for my dear Angel, and look forward to finally learning his name, one day, when he finally carries me to the Father's eternal embrace.

Childhood Disasters and Angelic Salvation

Everyone has stories from childhood, whether of theirs or that of their children.

I told one such story about how my Mother and every other involved parent in the neighborhood converged to save us from a spring flood.

This really was my mother's story as my memory is not so clear, and I have other stories also belonging to Mom which I now take as my own. Each family has their own oral tradition; and so I encourage all of you to absorb what you learn from your parents, or what you learn AS parents, and pass it on. As it is, today, I pass on a couple stories, thanks to Melody's comment which inspired me.

The Nick of Time...

My brother and I grew up watching Tom & Jerry cartoons, and anyone familiar with these characters knows how often they hit each other with common household objects, and how birds and stars would circle their heads after a cranial impact.

Well, around that time our parents had purchased a table and chairs made for children, both of which were kept in the living room, likely because of my "tea parties" to which both Mom and Dad found themselves "invited." I seriously must not have been older than three or four at the time, which would have made my brother five or six.

One day, my brother decided that he would like to see the birds and stars, and although I recall little of the experience, I think I agreed that I'd like to see the creatures around my head. As none of the cartoon characters ever suffered anything other than crossed eyes (which I already had, by nature) and the flying things, well, I agreed to the experiment.

Mom walked into the room just in time to see my brother raising the chair over his head. She stopped him mid-swing as the chair descended towards my tender skull, and took it away from him.

Guardian angel intervention? Quite possible. Quite likely. Can you IMAGINE the headlines that would hit the news today?

And I have yet another story, from around the same time period.

Impossible Salvation

Mom and Dad, as most parents, had a full-sized or queen bed, and it was just WONDERFUL for jumping. Of course, Mom and Dad BOTH had FORBIDDEN us to jump on the bed...EVER!

But one morning, we went into Mom's room and began bouncing. That was fun, but then my brother, being a boy, found the need to up the ante because bouncing wasn't enough. He started to push me, likely expecting me to push him back. But me, being a girl, was completely contented with just bouncing, and saw his pushing as a personal attack.

I think I likely did push him back and told him to stop, but he didn't, and at one point in the skirmish, I remember being in mid-air, being pushed, and I remember the room turning upside-down.

It happened in slow-motion. I saw the ceiling, the wall, the brown dresser, and the green diamond-shaped Berber-type carpeting, and just before my head hit, I stopped. For a moment, I was suspended, not even breathing as I observed the room around me, knowing at even a cellular level that horror had been averted.

My brother was holding my ankles with a strength I didn't know he had...because he had stopped my momentum and my descent in an instant. I remember being able to touch the floor beneath me, and I remember studying the dresser in my upside-down position, my legs straight up in the air, soles towards the ceiling. My back wasn't even touching the bed, which meant that my brother's arms had to have been extended straight out from him.

My brother pulled me back onto the bed, again, with a strength that belied his years. As soon as I was there, I looked around the room, shocked. He was no longer interested in jumping and playing. He was as terrified, if not MORE terrified, than I was in that moment. Neither one of us, though, really understood the full consequences of the action that had been averted.

My brother's eyes were saucers and he was already pleading with me not to cry, not to call Mom, not to tell. He was telling me I was OK, don't cry, don't cry...

And of course, realizing that I'd been upside-down not according to my own will, what did I do but start to cry?

I don't remember the rest. I'm not sure if my brother calmed me down or if I ran away and told Mom. That part is too fuzzy. I do remember him begging me to be quiet, I remember his hand on my shoulder, I remember him telling me that I was fine, and I was. But I didn't know what else to do but cry, and I did know clearly that my dear brother had saved me.

But in looking back, considering I was around 3 or 4, and my brother, 2 1/2 years older, I don't know how he could have saved me. I don't know how he could have halted my descent. I don't think he had the physical strength to work against...well...physics.

There is no doubt in my mind that our Guardian Angels intervened physically to save us both in that instance.

"Can you feel the tips of their wings?"

Mom taught us both, at a very young age, about Guardian Angels. I still remember the afternoons that we laid down for a nap,one of us on either side of Mom. She would speak to us about the angels, and invite us to raise our hands in the air. She told us they were flying above our extended hands, and we should be able to feel the feathers on their wings against our fingertips as they flew.

I stretched my little fingers as far as possible, but never felt the wings touch them. I never felt the breeze created by their flight. But my brother cried out that he could feel it, and Mom endorsed this as she said she could feel it, too. Never once did I ever feel the passing of the angels over us, and finally, one day, I cried because I thought the angels didn't love me. I cried because my arms were too short, and the angels couldn't fly low enough to reach me. And I cried because, once again, the people older than I could experience what I could not because I was too little.

Mom and my brother both sought to comfort me and stop my tears, and finally my brother admitted he couldn't really feel the wings, either, but was only pretending. And Mom admitted the same thing, but told us both that the angels were real, they were really there, even though we couldn't touch them with our fingertips.

The angels, clearly, revealed themselves when it was important, and not when we desired that they do so. They were present when it counted, and although I've never seen my Angel, I am forever grateful for his perfect intervention, no doubt aided by my brother's own angel, and also my Mom's. (They're all in cahoots, you know...)

All of us have stories of childhood disasters, and many of us can see, as adults, the divine intervention that saved us. What is your story? Did it happen when you were a child, or did it happen to aid you in your parenthood?

A Cold Winter's Tale

One more story: Mom tells a tale about traveling with my brother and I in the winter. I believe she and our Dad were still married, but I don't recall how it was that we were alone. And I remember part of this night. We were caught in a Midwestern snowstorm, where there was nothing to stop the wind. Mom was scared, it was obvious, and she was praying, out loud, there in the car with us, for somewhere to go. We'd gotten lost and had to find our way to the interstate.

Out of the snowy winter darkness there appeared a gas station and a diner, and so Mom stopped, grateful, hoping for directions, willing to sleep in a truck stop booth if it meant getting home safely.

We were both very little, and I think I still remember the light, Mom's anxiety, and a very nice lady who welcomed us. She was a "down home" sort of woman, used to catering to truckers, but we were the only guests. She said that "something" had told her to keep the light on in case someone happened by in such a terrible storm. She fed us, she talked to Mom about many things, and did her best to make us all feel at home. And at one point, she told us it was OK to leave, and how to get to where we needed to go. Mom thanked her, and offered her money for the food, but the woman waved her off...it was her pleasure. She'd been paid by being able to help.

So Mom packed us back into the car and we were on our way.

I don't know when this happened, but it was either the next day or maybe within weeks of the incident. She wanted to find the truck stop and the woman who had helped us, and she found what she thought was the spot, but it was closed down and clearly hadn't been inhabited in years. Mom drove to a nearby gas station or other business (I'm not sure) which was nearby and had been closed on the night of the storm. The person there told her that the place where we'd been had been nothing but a ruin for YEARS, and that it wasn't POSSIBLE that anyone had been there the night the down-home lady had taken us in from the cold.

Remind me to get the actual story from Mom...if I can get better detail, I'll tell the story here.

So...what's YOUR story? Com-box is open for business!

Freedom

MUSH AND TRIALS

It's been an amazing weekend. Great people, a very diverse, but faithful group, and material that, through sheer volume, has turned my brain to mush. I was going to study tonight, or at least get a start, but I don't have it in me.

It doesn't help that this morning my automatic garage door mechanism was doing weird things and I am fearful that my car is now forever entrapped within it. It doesn't help that the last of my front door locks went kaput tonight. So, having bought the lock kit back in June when the first one went, I tried to replace them both. And realized I had no idea what I was doing. But my next-door neighbor who offered to help then, stepped forward tonight to give me the bad news about my garage door mechanism and changed my locks, even as his dinner cooked on his grill. Because, to him, it was more important that I be safe that it was for him to eat. God bless him. He also expressed to me that once he starts a job, he will finish it.

And I have to give credit to the Guardian Angels for their assistance. Because after about an hour and a half of his struggling with stubborn components, and although we were both begging Heaven for help, I went into the kitchen to have a heart-to-heart with the angels. I asked my Guardian Angel for help, and prayed to my neighbor's Guardian Angel...please help him with this lock! His family is calling him for dinner, he's been wonderful to help me, but I won't be able to sleep if I don't have a working deadbolt! I can't sleep with a hole in the door where the deadbolt is supposed to be, which would of course give anyone access to the thumblatch. Yeah....no one can sleep with that kind of security breech. Neither should anyone go without dinner with their family on a Sunday.

While I did not necessarily express anything but begging to the angels, the reasons were of course understoo. And lo and behold, as I returned to the livingroom where my neighbor worked so diligently, the parts had gone into their places and he was just finishing the job!

People, never fail to pray to your Guardian Angel. They are just WAITING to help us and can help with the simplest things in the simplest ways. Yes, they are big, fierce warriors, sent to help us all get to Heaven...but in the meantime when we aren't immediately beset by demons and temptation, they are thrilled to help with little jobs around the house if we but ask. (And you probably think I'm kidding).

Anyway, moving on from the trials of the day.....

My brain is mush. Is that what we are talking about? Oh, yes...freedom.

FREEDOM

Our professor pointed out today that our society has a very poor "understanding" as to what "freedom" really is.

A common "expression" of what society refers to as "Freedom" is this:

I think I will smoke a cigarette...because I have the FREEDOM to do so! I think I will spend a bunch of money at the casino because I have the FREEDOM to do so.

Imagine that. If we go and have a cigarette, and then decide to have another...and another, because we have the "freedom" to do so, and make that free choice day after day, in a month, how free are we really to choose NOT to have the cigarette?

And if we go and blow some money at the casino, and win some, and then lose some...and because of the excitement, we decide to repeat the experience...over and over... Well, think about it. Over a period of time, especially if this behavior depletes ALL our reserves and the thrill of the gamble causes us to get into other types of gambling, higher stakes, perhaps to the degree we are losing the car and the house....is that freedom? When we are that far in the hole, how free are we now NOT to "play"?

As our professor observed, what kind of freedom destroys itself by our choosing of it?

A friend of mine once observed that she wished she'd never given up her virginity; because after saying "yes" once, it was that much harder, every time, to say "no" to someone else.

What a definition of slavery.

What kind of "freedom" enslaves us to it?

Examine your life. Examine your conscience. If you are having a difficult time NOT choosing something, perhaps it's time to realize what binds you from a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ. For as long as you are giving yourself to the master you have chosen from your concept of "freedom" you are not free to say "yes" to what God may be calling you to do.

Your passions and desires are supposed to be controlled by you...not the other way around.

So I echo the question presented in class to us today:

What kind of freedom is it, that if you act upon it, destroys itself and enslaves you to it?

Blessings, Smoke, and Fire

It's been quite a day. The good, the bad, the boring, the mundane...it's been a roller coaster and now I'm not tired anymore although I've been tired most of the day.

The blessings hit sometime this afternoon, and they just kept rolling.

First I was called to set up my interview for Ave Maria, the last step of the application process. That means they have all my paperwork in and the recommendations from my references. God bless them! My interview (via phone) is tomorrow.

Then I got home from work to a voice mail from the church I'm applying to...and my first interview is set for next Thursday. Oh, the agony! I can't even prepare for this kind of interview. There will be another interview the following week, that one more formal, and then I'll know if I got the job or not the following week.

Tonight was our last RCIA gathering; we went to Mass and then had a potluck afterwards. But our actions in the kitchen before Mass caused us to nearly burn down the Church while we attended Mass.

Seriously.

While we were obliviously at Mass, praying, worshiping, something was going on in the kitchen. I don't know who, but someone apparently with a key smelled smoke so went into the meeting rooms and saw a haze. He or she or they (I dunno) went into the kitchen area just in time to see a cookie tray in flames on the top of the stove!

Thank God they came by!

The person who put the plastic tray there was only trying to move it out of the way, not realizing tht this particular model of industrial gas stove has exposed pilot lights, which, of course, happened to enjoy the fuel of plastic and other fun things it could consume.

By the time we left Mass, that person had opened the doors and the smoke had cleared although we could smell something had burned.

Thanks to the Guardian Angel in charge of our parish! And thanks to the person who happened by and stopped the disaster!

It was otherwise a blessed night, our new Catholics and our sponsors had a great time, and my heart is so full right now. I'm so grateful to have been a part of this (not the nearly-burning the church down part). I just love those in the class, they were a great group and I learned so much from them. I heard so many encouraging words from them tonight. Even though it's been a big committment and a lot of work (some weeks more than others), this has been SO WORTH IT and I'm looking forward to next year's group of pending Catholics!

In "Charlotte's Web" by E.B. White, there is a line uttered by Wilbur, something along the lines of, "When your stomach is empty and your mind is full, it's always hard to sleep."

Well, for me, my stomach is full (these people can COOK!), my mind is full and my heart is full. And even though I'm exhausted, I haven't felt so joyful in a very long time. God is so good.

May God bless all of you even more abundantly than He has blessed me today.

Dogs in the Fog

This morning I got up and as is our habit at 5:30 in the morning, my dogs and I went for a walk.

I often don't want to do this, especially when it's dark. I'm a woman. It's not right for a woman to walk alone in the fog. On occasion we pass a solitary jogger (rather, the jogger passes us), this poor soul likely as unwilling as us to be out there.

Yet it must be done; I don't have a fenced yard and the dogs need to do their business. I confess that if I had a fenced yard, the dogs would be left to their own for awhile, and I long for those days. I'd likely get at least an hour more sleep.

But it is not to be; so this morning we headed out into the dark and fog.

The fog was so thick I was actually surprised. I always watch the news in the early mornings, but I did not really understand what they were saying. This fog was REALLY THICK!


I could barely see a few feet in front of me. As we entered a nearby park, I remember having to look down so as to actually see where I was placing my feet, not entirely certain we were walking in a straight line.

I said a prayer to my Guardian Angels and my personal Saints, asking for their intercession and protection; there was something about this morning that contained more oppression than just the closeness of the clouds.

Sometimes we all have to walk through this kind of fog. Sometimes we can't see the next step before us, even if we have traveled this path a thousand times before. It is one thing in broad daylight; it is entirely another when we are surrounded by darkness and confounded by the fog. We cannot see any obstacles, although common sense tells us they are there. We cannot see a thing, yet we are being pulled in all directions while trying only to stay on course.

The spiritual life is like this, but it is in the darkness that God can speak most clearly. The hinderances are removed from our perceptions, our senses are cleared, and we cannot help but strive for understanding in lieu of what we no longer have at our disposal.

This morning, as we began our return trip home, the fog was lifting, and with it the heavy oppression of moisture around us. A hint of light was appearing in the east, a promise of sunrise although it made no discernable difference in the landscape we had to cross.

Yet there was hope; the sunrise would come, and with it, a new perspective.

Just as we crossed the last street near home, a heady floral aroma enveloped me. I sniffed, recognizing lilacs...and roses. Here in Minnesota, while green is beginning to peek through the soil, it is far too early for flowers to bloom. There was nothing to cause such a scent in such darkness and fog. So I inhaled deeply, thanking God for the promise not only of the sunrise, but the companship of the Angels and the Saints as I arrived home safely once again, having passed through the darkness of the hours before dawn.