By Rev. Joanne Davies
One of my favourite images of angels comes from the Gospels of Matthew and Mark where angels minister to Jesus during and after his ordeal in the desert. Before me at my desk is a small print of an angel protecting and caring for Jesus, reminding me that God understands need and suffering and offers love through presence of care. Angels who come to us, protect us, know us fully. Angels are filled with all the presence of heaven.
In Luke 22:43, an angel strengthened Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane during the heartrending time of his earthly life. The verse says, “Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and gave him strength.” In the same way angels aided and attended to Jesus, there are moments when God may use an angel to meet our physical or tangible needs too.
When Jesus could find no one else to be with him in his hour of need, God provided supernatural assistance in the form of an angel to strengthen Him. This word “strengthen” comes from a Greek word that means to empower someone; to fill a person with physical vigour; or to give someone renewed vitality. It describes a person who may have been exhausted and depleted but then suddenly receives an energy recharge. When Jesus was alone in his hour of need, God provided an angel to renew his strength accompanying him, providing an empowerment to remain steadfast in the painful time.
The assuring presence of Angels is important in reflecting on God’s relationship to human beings and on the divine belovedness of human beings. To think of angels as pure spirits and in human form helps us understand what it means for human beings to be of both body and spirit. It also helps in reflection on the mystery of God who is outside, transcendent, and yet intimately present to the created world, both bodily and spiritually. God gave us the Word in human flesh, so that we have a model to follow, especially in trying times. Whenever Jesus witnessed someone in physical, emotional, or mental pain, he always offered comfort. The Hebrew Scriptures are filled with living examples of people sent by God to those in need of love, protection, and healing. Each of us has a guardian angel, one or more. God gives angels to our life not only to have strength but in turn to guide us to respond by relieving someone else’s pain. The Jesuit Greg Boyle has said “Loving is your home, so you’re never homesick.” Could you describe your ministry as a way of living from the accompaniment of your guardian angel? …
Angels are in my life as a supernatural presence and as angels in disguise beside me in this messy life we have on earth. It has taken me years to name this in wholeness, without fear of ridicule. And I think in the past I may have covered this truth thinking it was too magical for the church or for skilled pastoral care – I am really not sure which excuse I leaned into. I kept myself in a place that said guardian angels are a lovely fond dream, but not the reality. But with God we can come to see clearly. Change came for me as I reached deep into the place where I can meet my soul as God-revealed, as a child without adult posturing. Our gospel today reminds us to open our hearts and souls with humility to see life that is more than we can ask or imagine, just as a child will love all that is good and not question the provenance. Too many people in hospital have shared with trust, telling me as a child would, without guile, describing experiences of knowing the presence and accompaniment of their angel, as a being or as a light of strength. In listening to them I hear the words of Jesus in our gospel … “for I tell you truly their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven.” Amen