Angels of the Lord. Catherine Odell

watch on you” (Baruch 6:1–6).

      We are like exiles longing to return to Heaven, our true home. Our sinfulness leaves us vulnerable to the temptations of our culture. Yet our hearts call us back to the one true God. The angel of the Lord is with us, to keep watch over our hearts.

      March 21

      Angels in Mortal Combat

      Abba Moses (330–405) was a reformed thief who went into the desert to do penance. Once, he found himself fighting an overpowering temptation. He implored Abba Isidore for help. Abba Isidore took him out onto the open plain and said, “Look toward the west.” Moses saw a horde of demons circling in the air and shrieking viciously. Then Isidore said, “Now look toward the east.” Abba Moses turned and saw a vast multitude of angels resplendent in glory. Abba Isidore said, “The Lord sends his angels to help us, while the demons fight against them. Those who are with us are greater than those who are against us.”⁷⁴

      The Psalmist prayed, “Come quickly to help me; Do not let my heart incline to evil, or yield to any sin” (Psalm 141:1, 4, 8). What a consolation to know that powerful angels aid our battle against temptation.

      March 22

      God Will Send Us His Angels

      As Lent wears on, take solace in the wisdom of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, who was a spiritual counselor for thousands. He assured people that “God, whom we desire to see and hold before us, is always ready to come to our assistance. Always faithful to his promises and seeing us fighting valiantly, he will send us his angels to sustain us in the trial.”⁷⁵ So take heart. Persevere in penance, in prayer, and in almsgiving. Live your Lent with faith-filled determination, knowing that you can grow in strength and holiness. Trust in the angels to lead you closer to God.

      “The angels rejoice and celebrate with Christ over the return of the Lord’s sheep. He sought us on earth; let us seek Him in heaven.”

      — Saint Peter Chrysologus

      March 23

      Saint Toribio of Mogrovejo (1538–1606)

      Between Heaven and Earth

      In a courtyard of the Museum of Salamanca, Spain, a stone carving by the Spanish sculptor Luis Salvador Carmona depicts The Miracle of Saint Toribio of Mogrovejo. As a young man, Toribio felt called to join the strictly cloistered Cistercian community. The statue shows the Virgin Mary and Saint Bernard, the founder of the Cistercians, appearing to Toribio. An angel, serving as the intermediary between heaven and earth, hands Toribio a college scholarship, a sign that he should serve God in the world rather than in the monastery. Toribio became a professor of law and a judge. Then, the king appointed him Archbishop of Lima, Peru. There, Toribio tirelessly defended the rights of the native people who were oppressed by the ruling Spanish upper class and largely ignored by the Church. Toribio was where God wanted him to be.

      “Saints rise up from time to time in the Catholic Church like angels in disguise, and shed around them a light, as they walk on their way heavenward.”

      — Blessed John Henry Newman⁷⁶

      March 24

      Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero (1942–1980)

      Saint Michael the Archangel and El Salvador

      On this date in 1980, Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot to death while saying Mass in El Salvador during his country’s civil war. To everyone’s surprise, including the priests of his archdiocese, Romero had become an outspoken critic of the right-wing, militarist government. He spoke out for his people who were poor and powerless. The government supported assassinations and terrorist attacks against the people. To Romero’s shock and grief, his country was receiving no help. Not even the United States would intervene. In a homily, the archbishop promised his people that heaven would not forget El Salvador. Saint Michael the Archangel, he said, would help the powerless and the persecuted.

      “Michael serves only God and bends to Jesus Christ and all who serve him. He has fought and stays with those who struggle to be faithful until once again all things will be subject to Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God whose blood is testimony to our life.”

      — Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero⁷⁷

      March 25

      The Annunciation of the Lord

      An Angel’s Reverence

      We should look at the Annunciation from an angel’s point of view, suggests Catholic author Mike Aquilina. The Archangel Gabriel, he wrote, “showed Mary deference, as though he, the angel — archangel, in fact — was in awe of a humble Jewish woman who was hardly more than a girl.” Gabriel greeted her with reverence: “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” This glorious and magnificent archangel was overwhelmed by Mary’s great holiness and beauty. She had been conceived free of sin. God had prepared her to be the mother for his only Son, Jesus. Mary agreed. The Word became flesh within her. The future of humanity shifted toward hope and heaven.⁷⁸

      “In the set noon of time shall one from heaven,

      An angel fresh from looking upon God,

      Descend before a woman, blessing her

      With perfect benediction of pure love.”

      — Elizabeth Barrett Browning

      March 26

      Angels in the Desert

      In Anne Rice’s novel Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana, angels comfort Jesus when he falls from a desert cliff during a sandstorm. Rice’s depiction of the Savior’s forty desert days moves beyond the Gospels. “I heard the flapping, the fluttering, the muffled beating of wings,” Jesus says of the angelic visit. “All over me came the soft touch as if of hands, countless gentle hands, the even softer brush of lips — lips against my cheeks, my forehead, my parched eyelids.” Jesus resisted Satan’s temptations, but he was surely hot, tired, hungry, exhausted, thirsty and sun-burnt. Both the Gospels of Matthew and Mark say that angels ministered to him.⁷⁹

      Scripture assures us that the life of Jesus was filled with angels — from his birth until his Death and Resurrection. Angels surround you, as well!

      March 27

      The Priest Mistaken for an Angel

      In the summer of 2013, Father Patrick Dowling of the Diocese of Jefferson City stopped on an eastern Missouri highway to see if he could help car accident victims. Dowling learned that nineteen-year-old Katie Lentz was conscious, but trapped inside her virtually demolished car. Though not a Catholic, Lentz asked the priest to pray for her and her rescuers. Despite previous failed attempts, rescuers soon cut through the mangled car to free Katie. Later, two rescuers insisted that they heard a man’s voice urging calm and giving directions. Since Father Dowling seemed to disappear unnoticed and unidentified, early accident reports referred to the priest as an angel.⁸⁰

      Father James Martin, S.J., a well-known national media consultant and author said, “There are angels, of course, but we tend to ascribe to angels anonymous acts that we find incredibly loving — when in fact human beings do incredibly loving things in hidden ways