By Fr. Roy Cimagala *
ON the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael
(September 29), we are presented with that amusing gospel episode
about the calling of Nathanael. (cfr. Jn 1,47-51) We might be
wondering how Nathanael’s vocation is related to the existence of
angels.
My personal take on this question is that Nathanael, whom
Christ described as a man without guile, must have been enabled to
recognize Christ as the Son of God, the King of Israel, through the
help of the angels.
When Christ told him, in response to Nathanael’s question
about how Christ knew him, that Christ saw him under the fig tree
before Philip came, some angels must have been involved in that event.
We can somehow support that speculation by referring to the
fact that at the end of gospel episode, Christ told Nathanael, “Amen,
amen, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God
ascending and descending on the Son of Man.” What Nathanael was doing
under the fig tree must have something to do about who the Son of Man
is, and about heaven and angels.
In any event, our faith tells us that angels are real and
that they are our great ally, helping us in all our needs, from the
most trivial to the most important. Yes, angels exist. They are real.
We need to say this now since angels, if they are ever referred to
nowadays, are often considered as mere figments of our imagination
that at best can be used as literary and sentimental devices.
Obviously, faith is needed to believe in angels. They are
creatures whose presence goes beyond what our senses can perceive.
They can however assume bodily forms as mentioned several times in the
Bible. But essentially, they are pure spirits. As such, they are
readily available to help us, since they are not limited by time and
space.
We have to develop and popularize a devotion to angels,
especially to the archangels. They are great allies that we can count
on especially during our difficult moments. They are so close and so
identified with God that we can refer to them as God’s organic or
vital extensions of his own self, if we may describe them that.
Remember what Christ said about angels in general? It was
when he talked about the angels of little children whom the disciples
wanted to shoo away from Christ for being a disturbance. “See that you
do not despise one of these little ones,” he said. “For I tell you
that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in
heaven.” (Mt 18,10)
Our guardian angels, for example, are very helpful to us in
our task of navigating the most tricky spiritual and supernatural
realities. When there are strong temptations, or when some unknown
evil spirits seem to bother us, or when we are undertaking a spiritual
and supernatural project like coming up with an apostolic initiative,
our guardian angels make themselves available to help us in any way.
It’s important that we be aware of the existence of these
very powerful angels who, for sure, would be most willing and most
happy to help us in their own way. We just have to enliven our faith
in them and develop the appropriate devotion.
Many great saints have benefited from the help of the
angels. It would be good if we train ourselves to develop an intimate
relationship with them. To be sure, only good things can come out of
such relationship!
* Chaplain Center for Industrial Technology and Enterprise (CITE), Talamban, Cebu City
Email: roycimagala@gmail.com
