Why Angels?

[AdDeiGloriamNKU]

Why does God use Angels, and what can we infer from his use of Angels?
(Please help me as I struggle with these questions)

God is an all powerful, omnipotent, Supreme Being, creator of all … does he “need” Angels? The logical conclusion I come to is that the nature of God enables him to do anything he chooses, when he chooses, and how he chooses. So the “need” for Angels does not exist, but the “choice” of Angels is obvious.

Can we infer anything from God’s choice to use Angels as an intermediary between him and us? Angels are messengers, among other things they serve as a conduit of communication from God to us. Does their existence and role remedy a deficiency in a direct communication between God to us? There cannot be a deficiency on God’s end, so can we say that there is a deficiency on our end that makes use of Angels necessary?

What about communication from us to God? When we pray to God, do the deficiencies we posses inhibit our prayers to God? Does it make sense that our sinful nature requires us to invoke the Saints to carry our petitions to the throne of God?

When someone asks us, “Why do you pray to the Saints?”, is there any value in having them answer, “Why did God use Angels to talk to us?”

 

[Trishie]

To respond to one part of your question…why ask the saints to pray for us. The people in heaven are as much our brothers and sisters as the people on earth. If you or I ask anyone to pray for us for any intention, it’s not such a leap for us to ask anyone in heaven to pray for us. And why not make all our requests directly to God without anyone else interceding on our behalf…even if we can’t come up with an answer others than, this is what family do, this is what loves does…we suport each other…the we do have a Saviour who made it clear He wants us to join each other in prayer, He says, “if two of you on earth agree to ask anything at all, it will be granted by my Father in heaven. For where two or three meet in my name, I shall be there with them.” [Matthew 18:19-20]

Jesus made His point early in His public life that the requests, the prayers of one person for another is valuable to Him. At the wedding feast of Cana, Mary pointed out to Jesus that the hosts of the wedding feast were running out of wine. It wasn’t a matter of life or death, but certainly one of losing face, embaressment for the family. Jesus at first protested at the notion of helping in this. He reminded His mother that it was not yet time for Him to begin His public mission.'My time has not yet come." Mary, woman of faith, simply told the servant to do whatever Jesus told them to…and he worked the miracle of changing water into wine anyway, ahead of planned time for public miracles, just because his mother asked Him to. ( John 1:1-12)

God does seem to have a very great attachment to this idea of mutual help and interaction. Why would this not extend to the Angels, who have their own gifts to bring and to share. The “truth is they are all spirits whose work is service, sent to help those who will be heirs of salvation.” [Hebrews 1:14]
“The angel of the Lord pitches camp round those who fear Him; and he keeps them safe.” [Psalm 34:7] “He will send an angel ahead of you.” [Genesis 24:7] “He will put you in His angels charge to guard you wherever you go.” [Psalm 91:12]

God “From the beginning of time at once made out of nothing both orders of creatures, the spiritual and the corporal, that is, the angelic and the earthly, and then the human creature, who as it were shares in both orders, being composed of spirit and body.” Fourth Lateran Council 1215)
“This sacred council accepts loyally the venerable faith of our ancestors in the living communion which exists between us and our brothers and sisters who are in the glory of heaven or who are yet being purified after their death.” The authentic cult of the saints consists “in a more intense practice of our love, whereby, for our own greater good and that of the church, we seek from the saints “example in their way of life, fellowship in their communion, and the help of their intercession.”
Our “communion with these in heaven…understood in the full light of faith, in no way diminishes the worship of adoration given to God the Father, through Christ, in the Spirit; on the contrary, it greatly enriches it. For if we continue to love one another and to join in praising the Most Holy Trinity—all of us who are children of God and form one family in Christ—(Hebrews. 3:6)

 

[Trishie]

You ask, “When we pray to God, do the deficiencies we posses inhibit our prayers to God?”
Well we could accept that as a mystery that is upheld by the Word of God! The following texts indicate that God understands our weaknesses.
God requires trust, and that we forgive others…see the Lord’s prayer and this text, “When you stand in prayer, forgive whatever you have against anybody, so that your Father in heaven may forgive your failings too.” [Mark 11:25]

The “Spirit…comes to help us in our weakness. For when we cannot choose words in order to pray properly, the Spirit Himself expresses our plea in a way that could never be put into words, and God who knows everything in our hearts knows perfectly well what He means, and that the pleas of the saints expressed by the Spirit are according to the mind of God.” [Romans 8:26, 27]

“There is no need to worry; but if there is anything you need, pray for it, asking God for it with prayer and thanksgiving, and that peace of God, which is so much greater than we can understand, will guard your hearts and your thoughts, in Christ Jesus.” [Philippians 4:6-7] “If you have hope this will make you cheerful. Do not give up if trials come; and keep on praying.” [Romans 12:12] “We are quite confident that if we ask Him for anything, and it is in accordance with His will, He will hear us; and knowing that whatever we ask, He hears us, we know that we have already been granted what we asked of Him.” [John 5:14-15] “If any one of you is in trouble, he should pray; if anyone is feeling happy, he should sing a psalm.” [James 5:13] “Pray constantly; and for all things give thanks to God.” [Thessalonians 4:18]

Jesus promises, “Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For the one who asks always receives; the one who searches, always finds; the one who knocks will always have the door opened to him. Is there a man among you who would hand his son a stone when he asked for bread? Or hand him a snake when he asks for a fish? … How much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!” [Matthew 7:7-11] “Your Father knows what you need even before you ask Him.” [Matthew 6:9]

 

[Spirithound]

Why does God use Angels, and what can we infer from his use of Angels?
(Please help me as I struggle with these questions)

God is an all powerful, omnipotent, Supreme Being, creator of all … does he “need” Angels?

Can we infer anything from God’s choice to use Angels as an intermediary between him and us? Angels are messengers, among other things they serve as a conduit of communication from God to us. Does their existence and role remedy a deficiency in a direct communication between God to us? There cannot be a deficiency on God’s end, so can we say that there is a deficiency on our end that makes use of Angels necessary?

What about communication from us to God? When we pray to God, do the deficiencies we posses inhibit our prayers to God? Does it make sense that our sinful nature requires us to invoke the Saints to carry our petitions to the throne of God?

When someone in the Bible is confronted by an angel (and knows it’s an angel), the standard response seems to be utter terror. Except for Mary. Imagine what would happen if God Himself appeared to people in all His glory! Even Moses couldn’t look at God from the front. I think one of the angels’ purposes was to deliver God’s messages, in a “fearsome” manner, so that people really started to understand that if the messenger is this awesome, the Master must be infinitely more so.

 

[Trishie]

I have my own ways of dealing with the question of how to pray through my imperfections…I don’t know if any of them, e.g. these two, would demonstrate some way to you of dealing with this question…in which the basic understanding is that we can never on earth be perfect enough, or virtuous enough in prayer or in anything else…because all goodness comes from God…and however He chooses to convey or manifest it, through others, through Angels…it’s okay. His thoughts, His ways are far above ours and there’s no way we can really understand the whole picture.

Jesus, pray in me
Jesus our Brother and our God, please continually pray Your perfect prayer in me so that I love and honour God, and so that I cherish and serve others in prayer and act, because each person is so precious to God.

Jesus, please ask the Father to honour my debts, for my intercession, penance and good works are no more than cheques drawn in His name. I have no coin of my own. Even my best efforts would be worthless if the Father failed to acknowledge me as His lawful child.

Jesus, You are Son of the Father and coequal of the Spirit. Only through Your incarnation, death and resurrection comes my claim to call God ‘Father’. No words or acts ever can thank You enough. I have little to offer but goodwill and effort and a heart sometimes grieved by unintentional injury of others. Yet I offer You resurgent hope raised by Your undeserved love, and faith encouraged by Your promise of faithfulness.

Please celebrate my trust in Your love and in the truth of who I am in the love of God. Heal any wounds I have left in others’ lives, and recreate our spirits in Your love. Then offer us as gift of Yourself to the Father who accepts all things through You.

Please take all the debts that by prayer for them, I incur for my sisters and brothers of the kingdom and of the world. Present these debts to the Father with Your transformation and blessing—for He will grant freely all that You ask and more, so deep is His love for You. Thank You, Jesus who are our redemption before God.

Our God, speak in me

God, please ‘speak’ in me all that is necessary for the fulfilment of Your desire for my life and for anyone You hope to benefit through me.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, in the infinite possibilities of Your love, You know what must be ‘spoken’.

Whatever entreaty and faith must be offered to obtain this ‘utterance’, please ‘speak’ also in me—for only You can.

I ask this for fulfilment of Your loving will in my life, and for the healing, repentance and conversion of souls whom You desire to save or bless through me.

I ask, and believe, that You continually utter Yourself in me according to Your eternal desire. You delight Yourself in me…in us!

Thereby, with our cooperation, You will fulfil our portion of Your plan of redemption. I trust this to the name of the divine and risen Saviour who shares our humanity.

 

[VociMike]

Excellent question. As you say, God certainly does not need angels to do his bidding, nor does he need saints in heaven. So why does he use them? IMO, he uses them simply because he is Love, and thus he shares with those he loves all good things, and that includes everything being done for the salvation of the world. Thus he invites the angels to help him save us, and in exactly the same vein, he invites those saints who are perfected in heaven to help him save us. Both situations are gifts of love from God to his creatures.

 

[AdDeiGloriamNKU]

Everyone, thank you for your replies. I appreciate the time and thought you shared with me. You gave me a lot to think about.

 

[CentralFLJames]

Excellent question. As you say, God certainly does not need angels to do his bidding, nor does he need saints in heaven. So why does he use them? IMO, he uses them simply because he is Love, and thus he shares with those he loves all good things, and that includes everything being done for the salvation of the world. Thus he invites the angels to help him save us, and in exactly the same vein, he invites those saints who are perfected in heaven to help him save us. Both situations are gifts of love from God to his creatures.

I agree with VMike.

God wishes to honor His own and give them works that befit their special and unique personal honors. I also think God wants us to understand that He has made us all part of a larger family and relationship - a mystical Church. I also think he wants to give us time to prepare ourselves to meet Him face to face. There might also be a certain aspect of chastity and Justice here as well so we are not overwhelmed by His magnificence nor forced to love Him and pine for Him by the encounter.

James

 

[Joan_Anderson]

Good thread! As one who has written seven books on angels and miracles, and how angels are interracting with people today, I agree that God does not need angels to carry out any of his plans, He gave them to us, as he does with every gift, because he loves us. Angels are mentioned more than 300 times in the Old and New Testament which, to me, indicates that they are important in his plan. Up until 1992, however, angels had been out of the loop for decades, no longer mentioned in Catholic schools, or homilies etc. With the publication of some books on angels, suddenly everyone (it seemed) was wearing an angel pin or looking back on their lives to discern happenings that might have been angelic instead of simple coincidence.

Much of this activity was just a fad, and some, even today, borders on New Age. But I like to think that when the fad aspect died down, somewhere around 2000, there were still a lot of people who had started a devotion to angels and welcomed them into their families and lives. I believe it was Billy Graham who commented that in “the coming dark times, angels will prove to be a light to many.” I suspect we are in dark times now, and look at all the people who are gratefully being guided by angeic light. If you want to read testimonies on what angels are doing for all of us now, just check my blog at joanwanderson.com.

 

[CentralFLJames]

OMG Joan - I think it was you they interviewed today via phone as one who was donating a book on angels to incentivize donations that are ongoing today in our local Catholic Radio fundraiser (WDMC).

I have a strong devotion to the angels through the St. Michael Chaplet promises (9 choir of Angels) and see them as another vital part of our Catholic Family. It would be very foolish for any Catholic not to avail themselves of the profound intercessions of the angels who are only too willing to help us and work for us. They are no doubt honored by God with special grants of grace to give to those who call on their aid and who remember them in their prayers.

God Bless.

James

 

[Joan_Anderson]

It might have been me interviewed, James. I am on Relevant Radio, along with other Catholic stations, fairly frequently, sometimes taped. The shows are wonderful because usually the audience takes over and begins to call in with stories of their own. People listening can’t help but be awed at the great things going on among “ordinary people.”

Your take on angels is sooooo right!

 

[Gottle_of_Geer]

Why does God use Angels, and what can we infer from his use of Angels?
(Please help me as I struggle with these questions)

God is an all powerful, omnipotent, Supreme Being, creator of all … does he “need” Angels? The logical conclusion I come to is that the nature of God enables him to do anything he chooses, when he chooses, and how he chooses. So the “need” for Angels does not exist, but the “choice” of Angels is obvious.

Can we infer anything from God’s choice to use Angels as an intermediary between him and us? Angels are messengers, among other things they serve as a conduit of communication from God to us. Does their existence and role remedy a deficiency in a direct communication between God to us? There cannot be a deficiency on God’s end, so can we say that there is a deficiency on our end that makes use of Angels necessary?

What about communication from us to God? When we pray to God, do the deficiencies we posses inhibit our prayers to God? Does it make sense that our sinful nature requires us to invoke the Saints to carry our petitions to the throne of God?

When someone asks us, “Why do you pray to the Saints?”, is there any value in having them answer, “Why did God use Angels to talk to us?”

That God enjoys creating what is unlike Him ? That love spreads itself about ?​

Prayer is not like “pass the parcel”:

• the Saints are no more fit - compared with God - to enter the presence of God than we are. This most definitely includes the BVM BTW.
• That is why we have a Mediator Who unites in Himself the “interests” of God & of man alike: He is alien to neither, & knows both by “inside experience”. The Saints, being no more than redeemed creatures, have a very incomplete understanding of God; no finite creatures (& whatever is not God, is finite & a creature) can possibly know God as God knows God; they can know God only in a finite way.
• To pray at all, is itself a grace from God - God “occupies” the entire “space” of prayer, its beginning, continuing, & its end: a bit as light occupies the whole of a sun-beam. In no way is prayer “our project”, that we start, with God picking up the “other end” of it. God, let’s not forget, is not spatially limited - He has no “location”, & is utterly simple. All creatures, even angels, are composites - they are not simple.

Any good to you ?

 

[SeanTom]

The church teaches that there is a guardian angel for every soul.

Heavenly angels, often referred to as guardian angels, are mentioned numerous times in the Bible. Therein we learn that angels are spiritual beings created by God to serve Him, and sent by God to watch over the human race, to deliver His message, to guard and protect us from danger (if so willed by God), and to do battle with other spiritual beings on our behalf.

Since the beginning of time, angels have delivered God’s messages to mankind. Sometimes the messages are warnings of impending danger, sometimes instructions as to what to do in a particular situation, sometimes they are simply “there” as protection from enemy forces, if commanded by God to do so. Sometimes they bring joyful announcements as in the day they announced the birth of Jesus.

I am often asked by skeptics, Why do we need angels? In truth, I don’t know. God can deal with us in any way that pleases him to do so. He can speak with us directly, in a burning bush, in dreams, visions and specifically through the Scriptures. Yet, He also employs angels. Scripture tells us angels were created for His pleasure. Perhaps it is as simple as that – it pleases God to send the supernatural heavenly beings to minister to His children.

That every individual soul has a guardian angel has never been defined by the Church, and is, consequently, not an article of faith; but it is the “mind of the Church”. As St. Jerome expressed it: “how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it.” (Comm. in Matt., 28:2).

This belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity, pagans, like Menander and Plutarch , and Neo-Platonists, like Plotinus. It was also the belief of the Babylonians and Assyrians, as their monuments testify, for a figure of a guardian angel now in the British Museum once decorated an Assyrian palace, and might well serve for a modern representation; while Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, says: “He (Marduk) sent a tutelary deity (cherub)) of grace to go at my side; in everything that I did, he made my work to succeed.”

It is clear that the Old Testament conceived of God’s angels as His ministers who carried out his commands, and who were at times given special commissions, regarding men and mundane affairs.

(continued)

 

[SeanTom]

But in the New Testament the doctrine is stated with greater precision. Angels are everywhere, the intermediaries between God and man; and Christ set a seal upon the Old
Testament teaching: "See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 18:10). A twofold aspect of the doctrine is here put before us: even little children have guardian angels, and these same angels lose not the vision of God by the fact that they have a mission to fulfill on earth.

Without dwelling on the various passages in the New Testament where the doctrine of guardian angels is suggested, it may suffice to mention the angel who succoured Christ in the garden, and the angel who delivered St. Peter from prison., Hebrews 1:13-14 puts the doctrine in its clearest light: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?” This is the function of the guardian angels; they are to lead us, if we wish it, to the Kingdom of Heaven
.
St. Thomas teaches us (Summa Theologica I:113:4) that only the lowest orders of angels are sent to men, and consequently that they alone are our guardians, though Scotus and Durandus would rather say that any of the members of the angelic host may be sent to execute the Divine commands. Not only the baptized, but every soul that cometh into the world receives a guardian spirit; St. Basil, however (Homily on Psalm 43), and possibly St. Chrysotom (Homily 3 on Colossians) would hold that only Christians were so privileged. Our guardian angels can act upon our senses (I:111:4)) and upon our imaginations (K:111:3)) – not, however, upon our wills, except “per modum suadentis”, viz. by working on our intellect, and thus upon our will, through the senses and the imagination (I:106.2 and I:111:2). Finally, they are not separated from us after death, but remain with us in heaven…

YOU MAY INDEED HAVE BEEN SAVED FROM HARM THROUGH THE ACTIONS OF AN ANGEL (maybe you were aware of it, and maybe not)… HOWEVER, ANGELS WORK FOR GOD, SO WHEN YOU WERE SAVED FROM HARM --EVEN
IF IT WAS THROUGH THE ACTIONS OF AN ANGEL–IT WAS AT GOD’S COMMAND. Therefore, you should focus your gratitude toward God. The Bible makes it clear that Angels do not want our gratitude. For example, see the following passage.

Revelation 22
8 Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
9 Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”

There is a well established and widely accepted belief that all people (as well as nations, cities, and churches) have a special angel who stays with them, watching over their lives and encouraging their spiritual well-being and happiness. Many deny that guardian angels
could possibly exist, but others state, with the support of Scripture, theological writings, and common sense, that they do live, even if mortals forget or refuse to acknowledge their presence. The idea of the guardian angel is found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the roots of the belief date to the earliest times. St. Thomas Aquinas, one of history’s foremost experts on angels, stated that all people have guardian angels. They remain with one throughout life, staying ever at one’s side even during sin. They foster good works and help to direct the soul to salvation, but only if the soul is so inclined to be led. They cannot influence the will, but they do act upon the senses and project themselves upon the imagination and intellect, discouraging evil acts. According to Thomas, the angels remain even after death, standing with the soul in heaven; there, however, it does not encourage salvation, but assists in the glimpsing of the final brightness of eternal bliss. All guardian angels are taken from the lowest ranks of the celestial hierarchy, namely the choir of angels.

 

[SeanTom]

(Continued from previous posting)

One of the most important of all duties of angels, so much so that the very Hebrew word mal’akh and greek word angelos, denoting these beings, both mean “messenger.” The angel stands as one of the central intermediaries or representatives of the Lord to humanity. Existing entirely at the will and in the service of God, the angel is frequently dispatched to earth to deliver some important revelation or declaration, usually having much impact upon the lives of the recipients. Aside from the other tasks given to them in relating to earthly affairs, angels are mentioned frequently in the Bible in the ministering role of messengers. While angels have many other duties in tradition, both in heaven and on earth, their role as messengers is still central to their existence, serving to remind an often forgetful world that God loves all of his Creation and is concerned for its well-being

My personal comments on the above::

I believe that:

(a) Guardian Angels are real.
(b) Guardian Angels are assigned to us by God.
(c) Guardian Angels deliver messages to us, (by acting on our senses and conscience) from God, as God wills them to do. They also protect us and save us from harm if so commanded by God.
(d) Guardian Angels remain with us throughout our lifetime and follow our souls to Heaven after our death.

The question often arises about why our Guardian Angels don’t, on a continuing basis, protect us from evil. Our lives are predestined by God’s overall plan for each and everyone of us. Our Guardian Angels will protect us from harm IF so directed by God.

God gave all of us free will, and that includes persons of evil in this world. To protect everyone from harm would mean that there would be no evil in the world; that there then would be no reason for a Hell since evil would be non-existent. There will be a few cases where God will have our Guardian Angel save us from harm and that would be, in my opinion, in those cases where God has a reason for doing so. This would all be part of God’s predestined plan for us.

Another question asked is why do we need Guardian Angels when we have the Holy Spirit. Well, as I see it, the Holy Spirit is God and He uses Guardian Angels to help us when in need. There are times when Guardian Angels change their form into a human form to help someone in distress, as directed by God, since it would be necessary to take on a human form to handle given situations. (The Holy Spirit, as God, would not change His form to one of a human, but would allow our Guardian Angels to do so as His messenger.) There are many stories confirming actions by Guardian Angels, such as the time a man came out of nowhere to lift up a vehicle from a body on the road, then disappeared. In another case a man fell off a building and was caught by another man, who then disappeared. There were many incidents of like events by someone who, because of the action taken, could only be a being other than a human living on this earth. But remember that our Guardian Angels can save us from serious harm only when directed to do so by one of the three divine persons of the Holy Trinity.

Please know that I did much research from many books and internet sources on this
subject. I can not confirm anything said above by personal knowledge, but what I can confirm is that what I printed above was derived from various Christian sources. The personal comments, printed above, are strictly my own and, in some cases, are my opinions based on what I researched and the common sense that God gave me.
.

.

 

[Sam_777]

The idea of the guardian angel is found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and the roots of the belief date to the earliest times.

:tsktsk: No not in Islam, there is no guardian angel in Islam.

 

[SeanTom]

:tsktsk: No not in Islam, there is no guardian angel in Islam.

Hmmmm, thanks. I guess my source was wrong. Somewhere I heard, though, that every new baby has a Guardian Angel assigned. I didn’t know they were selective,

 

[Sam_777]

Hmmmm, thanks. I guess my source was wrong. Somewhere I heard, though, that every new baby has a Guardian Angel assigned. I didn’t know they were selective,

indeed Islam teaches that every Muslim has a devil/jinn attached to him/her instead of Guardian Angel.

 

[Joan_Anderson]

The Koran mentions angels several times. I have met both clergy and members of Islam who say that in their faith, everyone is considered to have TWO angels, a guardian angel and also a recording angel. It is the recording angel who takes one to the throne of Allah for the final judgment. Just as Catholics believe that everyone, no matter their faith or lack thereof, has a guardian angel, so do Muslims believe that everyone in the world, Muslim or not, has two angels.
I certainly know that there have been distortions of Islam, but I have never heard of them abandoning a belief in angels.

 

[Sam_777]

everyone is considered to have TWO angels, a guardian angel and also a recording angel. It is the recording angel who takes one to the throne of Allah for the final judgment.

No, they are two recording Angels, one on the right side recording good deeds and one on the left side recoding bad deeds.