Tutor

“If then we have angels, let us be sober, as though we were in the presence of tutors; for there is a demon present also.” (Saint John Chrysostom).

The Last Judgement (Excerpt) (Michaelangelo)

I have been reflecting on the importance of angels.

In the early pages of the Gospels, we hear the story of the Incarnation of Christ and hear about the messages of the angels to the Blessed Virgin and later to her Chaste Spouse, Saint Joseph.  The angels speak and the humans are told not to be afraid.

I have been thinking about that message – that start about fear.  Perhaps it is because an angel is so superior to a human being that to see one would astound a human soul.  Christ told Saint Faustina that He did not allow the angels to have a second chance to choose Him, because their superior knowledge of Him meant that they should have had enough understanding of God to be able to choose Him without hesitation…

The demons are as intelligent and superior as the angels.  The only difference is that they rely on themselves instead of on God.  And in this way reject God completely and through this rejection seek to ruin other souls.  If I – or any other created soul apart from the Blessed Virgin Mary – were to try to oppose the demons, we would fail miserably.  We simply have no ability to withstand anything that they place before us.  The ONLY reason that we can ever endure in the face of such darkness and evil, is because God provides us with a protector, a guardian angel, as well…  And then, of course, God Himself protects each soul.  Without the direct and deliberate intervention of God in my life and on my soul I would be lost eternally…

Saint John Chrysostom wrote, “If then we have angels, let us be sober, as though we were in the presence of tutors; for there is a demon present also.”

And God takes such special care of human souls…

He told Saint Catherine of Sienna, “I will first, dearest daughter, speak to thee of the dignity of priests, having placed them where they are through My goodness, over and above the general love which I have had to My creatures, creating you in My image and likeness and re-creating you all to the life of grace in the Blood of My Only-begotten Son, whence you have arrived at such excellence, through the union which I made of My Deity with human nature; so that in this you have greater dignity and excellence than the angels, for I took your human nature and not that of the angels. Wherefore, as I have said to you, I, God, have become man, and man has become God by the union of My Divine Nature with your human nature. This greatness is given in general to all rational creatures, but, among these I have especially chosen My ministers for the sake of your salvation, so that, through them, the Blood of the humble and immaculate Lamb, My Only-begotten Son, may be administered to you.” (Dialogue of St. Catherine of Siena, p. 137-1380).

And how grateful I am for these spiritual tutors to support such limited creates such as us!  How truly grateful!

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.